Origins of the New Uchiha
by CertifyyedGoon
Summary: When a very pregnant Sakura is kidnapped, Sasuke must journey not only through the obstacles to find her but also his own memories.  "How do you know you're going to find her?"  "She's my wife." Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: When a very pregnant Sakura is kidnapped, Sasuke must journey not only through the obstacles to find her but also his own memories. **

**"How do you know you're going to find her?"**

**"She's my wife."**

**To the dear readers,**

**This story contains many a flashback, journeying from the present, where Sakura is kidnapped, to the reaches of Sasuke's memory. The flashbacks will be indicated with words, but keep an eye out for them. Just know that most of this fic will take place in flashback.**

**Origins of the New Uchiha**

Sakura's eyes slowly cracked then widened, her senses coming to her as the remains of sleep clung to her briefly before falling from her eyes with the brush of her smooth fingers. She yawned, looking out one of the closed windows at the airy moon, bright and pale enough to light the inner corners of her bedroom. The walls were a plain but soft white, cloaked in an eerie blue gauze with the light of the moon, and them were lined bits of modest, functional furniture, no more than a few pictures adorning them. The door along the far wall remained slid shut, though it shuddered slightly with the wind, which howled outside in a low moan. On the floor, Sakura curled her toes in the fabric of the white futon spread over her body, noting with a small hint of satisfaction how her belly seemed to be growing daily.

She rubbed it with a great amount of affection before slowly getting to her feet, being extra careful not to wake her sleeping husband.

Sasuke Uchiha, for once, did not stir at her leaving the bed, and Sakura knew he must be entirely exhausted. He'd returned that afternoon from one of his longer missions, covered head to toe in red and black earth, a far away look in his eyes. She'd noted with relief how he'd let her remove his clothes, place him in a warm bath, then massage his back until he'd settled into a very deep sleep that even her moving in the middle of the night could not stir.

Sakura made sure not to touch him or make a sound as she tip-toed around the futon and to the door, using all her ninja ability to slide the thing to the side then shut it with absolute silence.

Waking in the middle of the night had started as a normal habit for Sakura when she first became pregnant. Often times she would only sleep a handful of hours before somehow waking in the middle of the night, refreshed and ready for action no matter how much she had done the previous day. Lady Tsunade explained it as Sakura's ninja training coupled with a mother's natural instinct to keep her child safe that kept Sakura up. A lioness, her teacher had said, for instance, would become very territorial and dominating during her pregnancy to ensure her own safety along with her cubs. Sakura's sleep deprivation was very similar, though at first it had bothered Sasuke to no end. He didn't like the idea of his pregnant wife wandering around in the middle of the night, also becoming over-protective of Sakura now that there was a baby on the way. Needless to say, as Sakura grew bigger and more and more _pregnant_, her coordination as well as her balance suffered tremendously so that Sasuke always seemed to be more or less on his toes around her, waking with her whenever she wanted to walk around. Tonight, however, was different. He did not stir.

She made her way through their house. The structure in all was shaped like a giant, elegant square, with a rather large courtyard in the center and the house surrounding it like fortress walls. The dark wooden floors felt smooth and cool under her swelling feet and even the chilly, somewhat malignant wind only served to help her body cool down. She slid another door open, leading to the courtyard in the center, a place Sakura loved the most in her home. The courtyard itself was vast, stretching fifty meters squared, elegant and soft green grass padding the earth, while in the center lay a bubbling fountain that leaked into a koi pond. Next to the koi pond, and swaying slightly in the breeze, was a lovely cherry blossom tree, just beginning to bud with the approach of spring.

Sakura pulled in a deep breath and very carefully lowered herself to sit beside the koi pond, her back against the tree. As the wind blew, cherry blossoms, still white with youth, flew through the air and danced in tiny incandescent circles before landing at Sakura's feet and in her hair.

She was able to disconnect the little bits that had flown into her pink locks, but as for the petals on and around her feet, she had no hope of reaching. It was one of the many difficulties of the enormous belly she'd obtained.

Though, she thought with another smile, having Sasuke's child was certainly worth it.

Sasuke had slowly changed over the years with her. Where he had been taciturn and aloof to her in their childhood, as married adults, he was kind and attentive. Sasuke had returned to the Uchiha district of Konoha, a place long since abandoned for years, and rebuilt his old home, crafting the structure filled with memories of a haunted past into one where new memories could be made. A place for a whole new line of Uchiha.

Sakura, for her part, also worked hard, improving herself as a medical and field ninja to the point where her skill rivaled both Lady Tsunade's and most of the jounin ninja as well. Sakura had grown out of her crying and weak stage with the slow passing of time, taking on high level missions until she was promoted to an ANBU black ops position, a position she had excelled at before her unexpected pregnancy. It was then that she had to take a leave of the black ops, at the demanding of both Sasuke _and _Naruto, who was currently training to replace Lady Tsunade as the sixth Hokage. Needless to say, Sakura's protestation in the face of resigning had been unanimously overruled.

She, despite having been married over two years, had simply not seen a baby coming. And now she was over eight months pregnant, a baby practically bursting from her body, and her husband lay comfortably in their bedroom, sleeping. She felt, in a word, at peace.

A snapping twig sent her body rigid, and (though slower than she would have liked) she sprang to her feet. She had no weapons on her, the comfort and security she felt in her own home preventing such a measure, but abruptly she wished she'd lived a bit more paranoid. The hairs on the back of her neck stood slowly on end, as if they could detect a presence that none of her other senses could comprehend. But she trusted this sixth sense with her life. It had saved her on more than one occasion. Currently, it was telling her there was someone in the house, maybe watching her.

She suddenly felt very weak, a sentiment she'd learned to hate over the years, but with her stomach churning uncomfortably and the extra kilos of a baby weighing hevily on her body, she felt sluggish and unable to move. Even if she could move, she thought with a wave of fear, she wouldn't be able to for the sake of the baby's health. She hoped then fervently that she was just being paranoid. That there was no one in the house. Because if there was, the baby would be in danger.

Another movement out of the corner of Sakura's eye caught her attention and she spun, but it was too late. A sharp crack across the skull and a blinding white flash sunk her into a gloom of pitch black.

Sasuke hadn't felt her leave, which immediately put him on edge. It was only his arms and body, searching on their own for the warmth Sakura usually provided from her side of the bed, that had allerted him to her lack of presence. His eyes snapped open and he pulled himself up, looking in the darkness for any sign of his wife. With gritting teeth, he realized she must be on one of her nightly walks, excursions he did not care for. Period.

But he could feel her presence still in the house, her chakra spilling out in calm pools from the courtyard, and that put him at ease. He could still feel her. It was like being in the same room. He slowly lowered himself back down onto the futon, keeping a part of his mind fixated on her chakra, while the rest wandered freely.

He didn't remember coming home that day. He remembered turning a report into the Hokage, he remembered farther back to the mission, an assassination of a six-man rougue-ninja squad and how it had drained him body and soul. Sasuke never liked returning home covered in blood and dirt, but the desire to see his wife outranked the desire to prevent her from seeing his filth, and the next thing he knew, he was waking up and it was night.

She must have washed him, because he felt and smelt clean, a fresh robe hanging from his shoulders and a warm bed beneath him. Even his back felt stretched and relieved, free of pain, and that in itself was a gift. He marveled at how well she took care of him, how bright her smiles were, and how she didn't mind how quiet he was. She had changed over the years from a ridiculous and spastic little girl into a calm and happy young woman.

He stretched his toes luxuriously and allowed himself a low grunt of satisfaction, which was short-lived because he suddenly desired to see her. His mission had been almost three weeks long. He'd journeyed to one of the farther, northern countries, tracked his quarry and disposed of them single-handedly. He hadn't minded long missions before he'd gotten married, he mused quietly to himself, but now he found himself despising them, longing for the comfort of his home and his wife.

Sasuke was by definition a man brought up in the ways of family and tradition. He loved the big house, promising to be filled with children and relatives, he found joy in wearing traditional clothing, the same style of yukata his father had worn. Sakura's meals were delicious, and her attention to detail and her fastidious ability to quickly pick up the traditions practiced by his family made her invaluable.

And now he was cold. And Sakura would more than likely become a more agreeable source of heat than the layers of bedding.

Sasuke rose from the bed, stretching lazily before lifting his hand to slide the door to the side, planning to venture into the courtyard to fetch Sakura, but there was an abrupt pulse of chakra. It wasn't Sakura's. It was a stranger's.

Sasuke's nerves immediately went on end, chakra surging about him as he grabbed his sword and sent his body flying through the air before a milisecond passed, but another spike in chakra sent an icy hand of fear down his throat and into his stomach. Sakura, aware of the intruder, had pulsed with chakra, ready for battle, but was almost immediately silenced, disappearing from his senses.

Sasuke let out a roar and brought himself down in the courtyard of his home, landing and noting in a single glance it was empty. It was empty except for a splatter of blood coating the green grass and the cherry tree he'd planted two years ago because it had reminded him of Sakura.

He didn't think, only moved with the speed and agility enough practice and his superior birth granted. Sakura's chakra was faint, flickering in front of his senses like a dull lamp and with her he felt three attackers. They would surely pay with their lives.

Sasuke caught up to them quickly, translating across the expanse of fifty huge trees to land right in front of them, sending one of the perpetrators flying with a swift kick to the teeth. The other two were too close to Sakura. But they stopped before him.

Their clothes were pure black, no faces showing, not even a forehead protector. They were either rogue or the country that sent them had no intention of being identified, which was just as well because Sasuke was going to make a complete bloody mess of all of them. Sakura, in the arms of one of the taller ninja, lay limp, a trail of blood dripping from behind her ear. Sasuke, however, did not look at her for more than a moment. He couldn't be clouded with fear while facing adversaries.

"Shit," he heard one of them mutter, the one he had kicked, while he got slowly to his feet. "He's faster than expected."

Sasuke was in no mood to converse. Unsheathing his sword, he stood before them, ready to spring into action. But at the sound of his own blade ringing in the air, another of the ninja took out a hefty katana of his own, flattening it against Sakura's neck, a little bit of blood dribbling on the cool steel edge. This man was the leader, Sasuke thought.

"Let us pass," the leader said, his voice deep and vicious. He had no qualms about slitting a pregnant woman's throat. "Now."

Sasuke grit his teeth in frustration, wishing for the first time that Sakura wasn't pregnant. If she hadn't been in her weakened state, she would have never been captured, they would have fought the intruders off in their house. Then gone back to sleep in that warm bed on the floor...

Sasuke forcibly snapped his mind to the present and not to past regrets. He hated admitting it, but he was at an impass. He would have to let these men, ruthless and wicked, carry off his wounded wife and unborn child. He grit his teeth harder, but stepped very slowly to the side.

"Very good." The leader sounded satisfied, his victorious grin bleeding through the words. "Don't follow."

They leaped into the trees.

"Fuck that." Sasuke darted like an arrow after them, making sure to heavily cloak his presence, not letting an ounce of chakra flare or his feet to slip for a second. If he could catch just one of them, he would won. Catching one meant that even if they got away, Sasuke could use his Sharingan on the captured enemy and ascertain where they were taking Sakura. But the border of the village, looming not more than a few kilometers ahead, was coming fast. He could not pass that border.

He picked up his pace, already the ninja slowly coming into view.

"Move faster!" the leader shouted, roughly taking Sakura from one of his partners and slinging her over his shoulder. Sasuke cringed. "If we make it past the border we're safe!"

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Safe?" one of them asked. "No way! He's going to kill us!"

"Sasuke Uchiha is incapable of passing the Konoha border," the leader said with a wicked gleam in his eyes. "He's still suffering from his rogue days."

Sasuke almost bellowed at the rage clenching up in his soul. He acted quickly and decisively, catching one of the ninja by the back of the leg with his arm and slinging him unceremoniously into a nearby tree. The man let out a yell of surprise, alerting the other ninja. The leader turned back around, Sakura laying limply on his shoulder, and slung a couple shuriken in Sasuke's direction, which he easily dodged. But Sasuke realized in the next second, the shuriken were not for him. A glance behind him confirmed that the tree he had thrown the other man into was covered in blood. The leader had killed his own comrade.

"Dammit," Sasuke muttered, pursuing the men further into the trees, spreading chakra to each of his limbs. But he could feel the border approaching. They were less than a kilometer from it. Sasuke had to move now.

But the leader, that damn leader, was cunning. Sasuke moved like a lightning flash, intending to impale the man with his chakra-charged sword, but the leader, at the last moment, moved himself behind his other companion. Sasuke's sword impaled the man through the chest, blood splattering on Sasuke's face and body, dripping into his eyes for a brief second.

The second was all it took for the Konoha border to come rushing up, a line marked with ancient letters and curses that only he could see. Sasuke slammed into it like it was a brick wall, energy and chakra flowing into his arms and legs painfully fast until he had to stumble backward to escape the agony.

Sasuke fell to his knees, the chakra completely drained from his bodyr. The leader stopped not three feet from where Sasuke knelt, his eyes behind the mask alight with a taunt. "What's wrong?" he asked, knowing the border protected him from Sasuke's wrath. "Can't move? Not strong enough to save your wife?"

Sasuke's jaw clenched so hard he thought he might shatter his own teeth. Sakura, on the man's shoulder, stirred slightly.

"Oh, look at this," he said. "Wake up, dear." He moved a rough hand over Sakura's hair, pushing it out of her eyes, an action which sent Sasuke to his feet, overrought with pure rage and hatred. This man _dared_ to touch her. Sasuke would kill him and bathe in his blood.

Sakura's eyes, dim and tired, slowly cracked open. Sasuke was acutely reminded of all the times he'd watched her wake up next to him, naked and glowing in the light of a warm summer sun. He could hardly look at her as she slowly registered him, blinking slowly while another trail of blood flowed from her forehead down her nose.

"You'll have time to find out where I am," the man holding her said, whispering his words into Sakura's ear as well as to Sasuke. Sasuke was forced to tear his eyes from Sakura and look up at her kidnapper. "When you do, come quickly. And come alone. She'll remain the exact way she is until you arrive." He gave Sakura a little lick on the side of her cheek.

Sasuke lunged to his feet in pure revulsion and possesivity, but the Hidden Lead border forced him back down. "You have no reason to take her if you want me," he spat in rage.

"Well, you can't pass this border, remember?" the man said with a grin. "You'll have to get clearance from your Hokage. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other very soon."

He laughed. Practically in Sasuke's face, the man laughed, hefting Sakura none too gently onto his shoulder and leaping into the darkness.

Sasuke let out an enraged bellow, throwing his body after them. Again the border inhibited him, sending painful and powerful shocks of charka through Sasuke's body. Sasuke could physically see the border rear its ugly head, a blue and yellow force field rising out of the ground and high into the air. It was harder than cement and as painful as electrocution.

Sasuke felt the last shards of consciousness fade as he slowly fell back to his knees then face down on the ground.

**Six years previously, in the land hidden in the leaves.**

Sasuke's eyes did not for a second lower below his horizon line. He made sure of this wherever he went, never bending his head, never appearing contrite or lowly. His pride as an Uchiha would not allow anything else. Sasuke clearly heard the other mutters of the villagers, felt the frightened if not angry eyes follow him as he made his rounds, bought food, practiced ninjutsu. It was to be expected, naturally. Sasuke had returned to the village, a traitor and a prisoner of Naruto Uzumaki. However, in his time as a renegade Sasuke had succeeded in not only destroying Orochimaru but Itachi as well, and with Naruto's unflinching support, Sasuke had avoided execution. He'd been imprisoned in a maximum security facility for almost an entire year before he'd been allowed to finally venture outside, first under heavy guard then with a light guard, then with none at all. The process had been slow, humiliating and sometimes trecherous to his health (there had been MANY angry villagers), but Sasuke was determined to start his life anew, finding strength in his demoted status. There was nowhere to go up from the damned of society.

Beside him, a presence of chakra fluctuated, and Sasuke felt the familiar warmth of Naruto's energy as the seventeen-year old blonde translated to Sasuke's side, placing a hand on his shoulder in the next second. Sasuke flinched, but only in pain not in surprise.

Naruto quickly lifted his hand. "Oh, sorry, buddy. I forgot..."

Sasuke looked down to his covered arms and noted as he moved them how they stung. Around his forearms, shoulders, and legs were black seals, scribbled writings and incantations. They were a violent midnight black now, but in time they would fade into his skin, like Naruto's seal mark on his stomach, and only appear when Sasuke's chakra was heightened. Now, however, they were quite painful, fresh and raw in his skin.

"Did it hurt?" Naruto asked, and Sasuke noted how hollow his friend's voice sounded. Naruto had been against the procedure from the beginning, as usual putting his utmost faith into Sasuke that he would never abandon the village again. But Sasuke had wanted to be assigned missions more than anything. The Hokage had consented to give him that freedom but only if he had seals, binding seals, placed around his body so that he could be incapacitated instantly by the right person. They also prevented him from leaving the village without permission. Sasuke had consented without flinching and had endured the procedure "with a ridiculous amount of control," as Lady Tsunade had put it.

"It's nothing," Sasuke said, ever terse, but he had intentionally softened his voice for Naruto. It was all Sasuke could do to convey his honest brotherly love for the blonde boy. Naruto had knocked sense into him, brought him back home. More than anything, Naruto trusted him. Sasuke had once asked Naruto why he had gone so far for his sake. When Sasuke returned to Konoha with Naruto, he had finally understood Naruto's feelings. Sasuke knew he would go just as far for his friend.

"You're first mission's comin' up soon!" Naruto said happily, changing the subject. "Don't die, alright? That would be a fucking waste!"

Sasuke allowed himself one of his rare smiles.

"Oh, hey I got some good news too!"

Sasuke turned, raising an eyebrow, expectant.

"I got a girlfriend!"

Sasuke's eyebrow rose further.

"Aw, that's it? You're not even surprised?"

"The Hyuga girl, correct?" Sasuke asked, just to make sure.

Naruto let a wide, sloppy grin steal over his face.

"You've been watching her for awhile. Finally grew a backbone?"

Naruto laughed and scratched the back of his head. "I kind of ran into her, and everything fell out... But I'm really happy! She's... she's like me but not like me... you know?"

"You're talking in circles."

An exasperated sigh. "You've never loved someone like that, so I know you don't get it."

Sasuke bristled at practically being called ignorant but let it slide. Naruto was right after all...

**Back to the present, the Hokage's office and personal resting area.**

Ocular abilities came first, not surprisingly given who he was and what bloodline trait he possessed, but Sasuke felt his wits return to him before his other senses could get themselves into place, and he felt as if he would die from waiting. Above him Naruto hovered, blood and dirt on his hands, a red smudge over his face. His mouth was moving rapidly, but Sasuke couldn't yet make out the words. Naruto was talking to Lady Tsunade, whose hands, Sasuke finally realized, were over his arms and legs, healing him. Blood was on her hands as well.

Hearing abilities arrived.

"I went as far north as I could, but the trail ran cold," Naruto bit through clenched teeth. "Whoever took her was good. Goddammit, I _knew_ these fucking restraints would blow up in our faces later! Now they've got Sakura..."

"Shut up, brat!" Tsunade spat back, and Sasuke saw her eyes were red, probably from held back tears of frustration.

Abruptly his tactical senses arrived in a flash, shooting waves of pain throughout his arms and legs so violently that he screamed, literally screamed, in agony.

"Put him under!" Naruto bellowed.

"Shit, he wasn't supposed to wake up yet!" Tsunade said, folding seals furiously before slamming her hands down on Sasuke's chest.

Unconsciousness rushed up to greet him.

**Chapter 1 end. **

**Well, welcome to the new story! It's quite good if I do say so myself. To those of you who are waiting for new Dauntless Core (my other fic) chapters, I'm not done yet with the story! I just started this one because it demanded to be written!**

**Thanks so much!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary: When a very pregnant Sakura is kidnapped, Sasuke must journey not only through the obstacles to find her but also his own memories. **

**"How do you know you're going to find her?"**

**"She's my wife."**

**READ THIS!**

**The symbol "~" indicates a time change, either back in time or the present. **

**Origins of the New Uchiha**

**Chapter 2. **

Sasuke would often look back fondly regarding the circumstances of his and Sakura's first encounters together. Sakura would wince thinking about them.

Because Sakura had been in love with Naruto.

Sasuke had seen it almost the same instant that he had returned. She, of course, had been affectionate, had hugged him like always, had been ever the constant friend. But Sasuke had sensed the difference from what it was before.

Before Sakura had never been a puzzle.

She had been completely readable, her expressions as open as a book. But upon Sasuke's return, he had noticed how sometimes her eyes would alight with a firey look that puzzled him, until he had seen the object of that look: Naruto. Sakura acted indiffent and aloof, but sometimes she would let herself slip. She would let a passion and hunger seep into her green eyes to the point where her entire posture changed from the sweet girl he'd known in his youth to a sensual vixen, determined to catch her prey. It intrigued Sasuke to no end, especially when the moment for Sakura would pass, and she would look innocent again. Deceptively innocent. Sasuke knew the look of longing, the look of someone with set determination towards a goal, the look of possessing a devilish craving only one thing could satisfy.

He also knew the face of someone who had been denied the one thing they wanted, the one goal they longed to acheive. Sakura wore it the night Naruto jubilantly announced that he was to be married in a few months time to Hinata Hyuga.

Sasuke had heard the news, processed it, and had looked to where Sakura had been sitting in the next second. He couldn't help it. Watching Sakura go through the ups and downs of such passionate desire was the only amusement he'd had in the past two years. Sakura had only let it pass over her face for a split second, and Sasuke attributed it to his bloodline trait that even he noticed it. She was crushed, her eyes watering, her jaw set and enraged, and her fingers grasping. Her facial muscles moved with a cry he could hear coming from her soul. The one thing she had wanted most was taken from her.

Sasuke couldn't stop watching her from that point onward for the next few months as Naruto obvliously lived in the land of the almost-married, unaware of Sakura's agony. Naruto consulted with Sakura over wedding plans, over which ring to get Hinata, over where the reception should be, how many guests...

Sasuke had stood by merely as an observer, watching Sakura's flawless control. There were no more furtive glances filled with heat and lust cast toward Naruto. There were also no more angry and clenched teeth. There wasn't even a pouting lip. Sasuke watched anxiously every day, waiting for her to snap. But she didn't.

Even through the ceremony, with Naruto dressed in a groom's cloak, his new wife elegantly wrapped in white, Sakura only held a pleased smile over her face. Sasuke watched her, sitting a few pews behind her, and saw nothing. Nothing but that flawless look of happiness.

Infuritating.

Sakura's passion had made an impression on Sasuke. He wanted to see her win. He wanted her to leap from her chair and steal Naruto from his wife, dragging him somewhere where she could have her way with him. Sasuke had seen those gazes and knew that was the extent of Sakura's feelings. She wanted to love Naruto, possess him, pleasure him. He had seen it. The fact that she wouldn't act on it was infuriating.

The reception was held outside in the setting sun, Naruto having his big day accompanied by Hinata and a large crowd of bistanders, including both houses of the Hyuga clan, who looked on an alliance with the future Hokage as a very positive thing.

But no Sakura.

Sasuke searched for her, ever discreet about it of course, but he searched high and low for her. She was gone.

He switched his tactics, focusing his chakra and allowing it to search out for her. He didn't have to look very far. She wasn't overly close by but not too far to escape his range. His feet moving quicker than he admited, he sped off in search of her.

The sun began setting slowly behind the Konoha buildings as Sasuke dropped a turn and headed more south, the town slowly getting seedier as he continued. If he continued on his present course, he would arrive in a Red Light District, which he hoped he would not have to venture into, but thankfully, Sakura's chakra was located inside of a small pub just north of the darker side of the city, an establishment that Sasuke stepped into slowly.

She was sitting at the bar, her head hung low and her shoulders drooped over a cup of sake. With two fingers, she swooped the glass to her lips and downed a shot, licking away the taste without even a flinch. Maybe Sakura took after Tsunade in more ways than expected.

Sasuke didn't approach at first, simply watching her. She had two bottles on their sides beside another full bottle, which she used to pour another glass. Sasuke felt her chakra regulate, instinctively insinerating the pungent liquid from her body before it could digest, which was probably why she could handle so much. Her dress was a blood-red tight thing, zippers covering the seams at the sides and back to frame her curves. A very daring choice for a wedding. He noted with a small smirk how her high heels were sitting by themselves next to the bar while her bare feet rubbed each other over the stool.

He sat beside her and said nothing. He waited for her to speak.

Surprisingly, she didn't. She merely picked up the bottle, poured herself another glass, and downed it again in one fell swoop. An absent-minded finger played with her hair.

"For you?" the bartender asked Sasuke, who shrugged and slapped a few bills on the counter, also ordering a bottle of sake. When it arrived, Sasuke followed Sakura's example and took a shot from his bottle, swallowing it slowly to savor the burn as it went down.

"I know that you know."

Sasuke turned to the pink-haired woman, who refused to look at him.

"You were always sharp. Had good eyes and shit," she continued, and Sasuke was surprised by the curse word that had flown from her mouth. Cursing was Naruto's pleasure and Sasuke's habit, not Sakura's. "Back then, he was a hero. Of course I would fall for him. I thought it was a phase, like what it was with you. But no... it's been two years, right? I still don't want anyone else." She stared absently at her glass before discarding it, grabbing the bottle and taking a long, long swig. "God, I still want him..."

"Why not take him then?" Sasuke asked at length. He also had taken a few drinks. He allowed it as an excuse to loosen his tongue.

Sakura let out a very loud, bitter laugh. "Take him? And have him hate me? Fuck that, I'm not a kid anymore. I used to think that screaming out your feelings would make people return them. Learned a _big_ lesson from _that_, now didn't I?"

Sasuke thought back toa time five years ago, where Sakura told him that she loved him. _I love you so much!_ _I'd do anything for you! I'll even help you with your revenge!_

He winced. She had learned.

And now she laughed a bit more. "I'm not as stupid as I used to be. I won't ever be as strong as you and fucking Naruto, but I definitely won't be out-brained. I'm ANBU now." She raised a bottle to no one in particular and lowered her voice to barely above a whisper. "To a life of killing and dying..." Tilting her neck back, she devoured the entire bottle in a single gulp, and Sasuke did not feel the expected surge of chakra, cleaning out her system. No, that whole bottle of sake was intentionally going to be digested. Sakura was raving drunk.

And she kept drinking, her words slurring, her face red with her rising body temperature. Her voice was loud and raucous, indignant with the irony of her lost love and infuritated at her own inability to take Naruto back. That's what she said, anyway. "Too much of a goddam coward!" she crowed despondently. "I should have fucked him when I had the chance! We were fifteen, and he wanted me then! Goddammit!" And then she'd take another drink.

For a long time Sasuke remained silent and watched her with an amused reverence that even surprised him. He'd never seen such a snarky Sakura. He'd never seen her so upset. He might have felt horrible for delighting in her wallowing misery, but Sasuke had relinquished his conscience long ago for the sake of becoming stronger. So the chuckles he muttered under his breath came with no feeling of guilt, only a self-serving satisfaction.

"You wana fucking fight?" she said angrily to him, slamming her drink down on the counter so hard it shattered in her fingers, but neither of them paid any mind to it.

"Heh," he snorted at her, the copious amounts of alcohol flowing in his veins inspiring him to retaliate to her foul mood with one of his own. "Fight me? Ridiculous, I could kill you with my eyes plucked out. You were never any match for me."

"Before! _Before!_ I've gotten stronger, you selfish prick!" She grabbed at his bottle of sake and took a drink without his permission. "I helped bring you back too, you know. Had to..." Her head lolled slightly. "Had to fuckin' heal you, so you wouldn't die. Naruto would have been upset if you'd died..."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. It'd been two years since he'd returned. During that time, he'd assumed Sakura had helped to save him for her own reasons, but now...

"You did it for Naruto?"

The alcohol made her painfully honest. "I stopped caring about you a few months after you tried killing me, _remember_? I wanted you dead. You hurt Naruto. I wanted you dead and out of his mind. But Naruto's stubborn. He... he never gave up on you, not once. Never. Even when I did." Another swig and a sigh. "Well, in the end he was right. And now look at you... Sitting at a bar in wedding clothes... back here."

He smirked. "You're in wedding clothes too."

Sakura took another pull from his bottle, emptying it. "True..." She looked at him, and in those green eyes shone a hint, a mere hint, of that lust she'd held for Naruto. It was enough to have Sasuke's drunked heart and mind to reel just at the sight of it. Those fascinating eyes, looking at him with that seductive smirk... "But I might just want to take these wedding clothes off," she finished.

Sasuke didn't know where he was. He stumbled about in the dark, feeling flushed and heated, and it was then he realized exactly _why._ The firm, lithe body held in his arms pulsed and beat with passionate fire, soft moans escaping the lips that hovered for a moment over his mouth before closing around him. Her body was pressed so close to his that he couldn't quite tell where she ended and he began, and when he could tell it was only because he registered his hand snaking up the side of her long leg, pushing up that skin-tight dress she was wearing.

She made affirmative sounds, her fingers pulling at his hair and clothes, her lips crashed against his and panted softly. Her legs wrapped around his waist as they burst into the apartment. His or hers he didn't remember. He could hardly stand but made certain to keep her aloft, obsessive with the feeling of her pelvis rocking into his as she moaned low into his ear. The trip down the hallway was a slow one, punctuated by their low moans and cries and the slow discarding of clothing. Sasuke was wearing traditional wedding clothes, a three-layered yukata that Sakura pulled apart and down his shoulders one layer at a time. He shivered as her fingers slid down his chest, first over the fabric, then sneakily underneath. He, in turn, could not help but move his hand farther up her dress, enjoying the feel of her soft, hot skin. Her underwear was black and lacy. He could tell even in the dark with furtive glances that only lasted a moment. Her eyes always drew him back to her face despite the temptation of her body. She had them mostly closed, sometimes half lidded, specks of green glittering in the light of the moon. The blatant look of unabashed lust in her eyes made Sasuke grit his teeth and hurry down the hall, his tented member feeling tighter by the second.

But she would not be rushed. With one hand, she'd stop his furtive movements, lacing her fingers around his midsection and torso with tantalizing gentleness, enough to drive him crazy. He breathed out a mix between a groan and a cry, seizing her mouth again with his hands locked so tightly around her hips that every inch of her pressed into him. She laughed and slipped a tongue, clever tongue, inside the seam of his gasping lips, simultaneously rolling her hips over his pelvis, driving him further from sanity. Her body was like a wave, pulsating and devilishly sexy.

Sasuke kicked open the door to the bedroom at the end of the hall just as he found the zipper to her dress. Up the side of her hip he slid his hands until the soft red fabric gave way to creamy white skin. Sakura wore no underclothes but her underwear, which indeed were black, Sasuke saw as he forcibly dropped her onto his bed. She made no move to hide herself, her creamy body exposed and shivering before him. Her dress lay half off her, revealing her heaving chest, and slowly, slowly, she pulled the rest of the fabric off until she was naked save for her underwear. Her eyes, despite the luscious temptation that was her body, held his attention like a vice. That is until she closed them, running soft hands up the sides of her toso, running up the sides of her breasts then back down to fiddle with the fabric of her panties. Her mouth was a sensuous device, open with her pink lips and tongue forming a seductive dance as they played over one another.

He held on no longer, tossing the remaining clothing from his body and leaping onto her. They were locked in an instant in an embrace lost in arms, legs, and kissing mouths. All at once he felt the instinctive need to possess her, to make her his own and mark her. His mouth left hers to skid down her neck, sucking and pulling at the white flesh, leaving dark circles in his wake. Down her chest he went slowly, humming in pleasure as she ran fingers through his hair, down his back, up his chest. Sasuke had never before regarded a woman's chest as anything more than useless fat hanging off the body, but now in the light of only the moon, shadows of the swaying trees flickering over the soft skin, he had never seen anything more beautiful. Grasping her by the sides of her ribcage, he ran his tongue over the soft buds perking in the cold of the room, and he felt a jolt of lust flare down to his thighs as she let out a mewl of appreciation, her hands pulling on his dark locks.

"C-Come on," she said. It was the first time she'd spoken since they'd left the bar. Her voice was heightened with passion and lust but still held the hint of a challenge. "Make your move."

He registered the challenge, and his pride flared up almost as hot as his passion. With the swiftness and strength of a true warrior, Sasuke pulled Sakura's legs toward him, spread her, snapped her panties off like they were made of spider's webb and plunged into her with a cry that she echoed in both volume and intensity. She shoved against him abruptly, switching their positions so she was on top, riding him, running her hands along her body while she moved herself up and down, up and down.

Sasuke let out a clenched breath, never having felt something so terrifyingly good. He couldn't last long like this, and he could tell she was at her limit too. Her head was thrown back, mouth open in ecstacy. Her lips were murmuring unintelligible things until he felt her quicken her motion, the end nearing.

Her voice came out small and in between gasps. "Na... Na..."

_Naruto._

Sasuke grit his teeth in frustration, and he flipped her small body back over the bed, pounding into her mercilessly. He would not lose to Naruto, especially in this! For tonight, Sakura would be his. _His!_ He wouldn't let her think of Naruto. He would make sure she knew who she was fucking.

"Sasuke!" she screamed, her hands gripping his torso and holding on for dear life to his demanding pace.

"Yessss," he breathed. "Say _my_ name. Say it!"

She cried his name, screamed it, like a mantra until he was unmanned. All energy drained from his body as he collapsed on top of her, feeling her arms wrap around him as they both struggled for breath.

He heard her let out a soft gasp and looked up to her face, a glimmer of guilt passing through him as he realized he might have gotten carried away. "What?" he asked.

She looked at him, and he realized how truly beautiful her eyes were. They no longer held that suppressed lust, reflecting only satisfaction and satiated desire. She looked calm, at peace, and as her hands gently caressed his cheek, he did not flinch at her touch, leaning slowly into it.

"Your face," she said slowly. "Your expression is so..."

He closed his eyes and lay his head down on her chest, not saying anything. He knew what she meant. He could feel it in his body. The sort of _this is right_ feeling that Sasuke could not explain. In any case, he thought as he drifted off to sleep, being in her arms was so much better than being alone.

Sasuke awoke to the bright lights of the morning, the sun streaming through his open window like a hammer that beat down on his sensitive eyes and head. He swore sotfly, rolling to the side of his bed to reach for the curtains and pull them shut. It was then he noticed he was alone in his room.

There was no note, there was no Sakura, and there was no trace she'd ever been there.

**CHAPTER 2 END.**

**Please read.**

**Just to clarify, this entire 'after the wedding' scene is actually a flashback in the story, four years prior to the story-line of Sakura's kidnapping. Sasuke's memories will continuously be flashing back to the events leading to their marriage, so at times a chapter may begin in a completely different scene from the 'actual' story-line. Bear with it. It's how I do things.**

**ps.**

**This was a strange attempt at a first love scene, probably because I've never written one before and also because I wanted it to be a scene that had no love in it only mindless lust (well on her part at least.) It was also hard because I was writing the part of a drunk man, and I wanted the experience to be brief, almost like he could only remember parts of it.**

**In any case, thank you for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Watch for the flashbacks and time changes.**

**And enjoy.**

**The Origins of the New Uchiha**

**Chapter 3.**

**In the present, Sakura is kidnapped. Sasuke awakes in the Hokage's personal chambers.**

Sasuke awoke again, this time all his senses responding immediately. There was nothing sluggish in him, no weariness either, but Sasuke took that feeling with a deep shot of fear because if he felt refreshed that meant that he'd been asleep for hours. Hours where Sakura was alone, kidnapped, pregnant, and helpless at the hands of masked men who most certainly wanted her and Sasuke dead if not worse.

He jolted upward, a sharp gasp escaping his lips of searing pain spread up his arms and legs, making his mouth and eyes water for a few seconds. But he ignored it and rose to his feet. Before him, the Lady Hokage sat in a high back chair, the light of a single candle flickering over her face. She looked grave.

"W-where...?" Sasuke gasped, unable to finish with _is Sakura_.

"She was taken past the northern border. Of course you know that. We tracked her as far as the Nowaki bridge and lost her there. Found you a few minutes after that. Naruto insisted on going after her, but as the Hokage insuring the safety of the future Hokage, I had to prohibit him. The Inuzuka clan is attempting to track her now, but I know very well they won't find her."

Sasuke processed the information in a second before swinging his legs over the side of the bed, pulling on a black shirt that was hanging over the chair next to the Hokage's. He was remotely surprised when she didn't stop him.

"Where are you going?" she asked with a sigh, as if asking were merely a motion of no importance, which Sasuke considered to be true.

"To find Sakura."

She smirked. "Naruto is meeting with the Inuzuka clan now. He is going to come in here and say that all attempts to find her have been thwarted. That she's vanished. How do you know you're going to find her?"

Sasuke stopped walking towards the door only for a moment, tilting his head slightly so she could hear him. "She's my wife."

**Back in time, years before, in the Hokage's office.**

In the hawk mask and covered head to toe in full ANBU black ops gear, Sasuke felt at home and, for him, excited. His dark hair was pulled back, fitted to hang beneath the ears of his mask, while the ANBU tattoo on his arm stung slightly, fresh and newly inked. He had never been part of the black ops before, and taking on the esteemed honor as a former traitor meant that he was indeed progressing back into his home village's good graces. He did want to be accepted by the village once more. He would be granted more freedom, even the ability to move back into the Uchiha section of the village. Sasuke wanted to restore the Uchiha clan even if that meant only restoring the house itself. He had decided long ago that the process would be long and at times tiring, but Sasuke believed that for all Uchiha, he would have to pay for not only his crimes against the village but for Madara's as well.

Anticipation ran like a fiery current through his veins as he stepped into the Hokage's office. Before him Lady Tsunade sat in her desk, scowling and looking unhappy, the unopened bottle of sake in the corner being the most likely reason why. Behind her Naruto stood, his yellow Hokage-in-training cloak swaying slightly in the breeze of an open window. On his face was a small smirk, and Sasuke knew that Naruto, despite the mask, could tell who he was.

There were two others in the room as well, both of them dressed similarly to himself though smaller in stature. The taller of the two was certainly male with long, brown hair pulled back into a top-knot that was messy and allowed locks to hang rebelliously down his shoulders and into the creases of his dog-eyed mask. He was well-muscled and toned, but there was an uneasiness in his manor and posture that Sasuke found slightly disturbing. His smaller companion, however, oozed dominance and authority. She was female, though very muscular, the lines of her biceps and back muscles rippling under the tight fabric of her shirt. Her hair was hidden under a hood that was firmly attatched to her mask, which was ornately painted with the symbol of a fiery fox. The narrowness of the eyes in the mask made the hairs on Sasuke's neck stand on edge, like the fox was eyeing him coldly.

He bowed to the Hokage, not saying anything as was custom of ANBU black ops.

The Hokage eyed each of them before unfolding her hands from her mouth and saying quietly, "I'm going to get strait to the point. This mission is S-Rank, naturally. You're all going to travel to the Land of Sky and assist their local government in disposing of a few Missing Nins that have managed to cause calamity to their citizens." She produced a manilla folder and slapped it on the desk. Inside were photos of several ninja, each of them S-ranked criminals. "Their leader is a Shin Namura. Intelligence tells us that he wants to take over the Land of Sky and begin annexing other smaller countries to his side, which is why we've chosen to step in now before the situation gets out of hand. You will go as a team to the Land of Sky, find the Missing Nins, especially Shin Namura, and _take care of_ them accordingly. Is this understood?"

The three ANBU stood at attention but again did not speak.

The Hokage turned to the female of the group, a very small body in between two frames so decidedly larger than her own, yet she did not lose an ounce of intimidation in her stance. She maintained authority no matter the disadvantage of her size, and Sasuke respected her instantly for it.

"You will all be given code names for this assignment," Lady Tsunade continued. She addressed the female. "You will be Hana and also the leader of this squad. You," she turned to the other male beside Hana. "You will be known as Tohru. And you," It was Sasuke's turn. "You'll be Taka. Any questions?" Sasuke knew the request was simply a formality and made no move to answer. However, he would have liked to know why he was given the name of his former Team Name, Taka. He looked to where Naruto stood behind Tsunade and found his friend's eyes darkened, as if remembering evil times. Sasuke kept his expression schooled into blankness despite his mask. He felt like even allowing the feeling to show on his face would be painful.

"Tohru, you may leave," the Hokage said at length. "Wait outside the room for your teammates. I have something to discuss with them."

The man recently named Tohru bowed and left the room, the echo of the door closing the only sound for a moment.

"Hana," Tsunade said to the woman, "Taka has a very unique situation. On his arms and legs are certain seals designed to incapacitate in case he has any... independent thoughts, if you catch my meaning."

Sasuke saw Hana stiffen slightly and angle her neck a fraction to get a better look at him. Those sharp fox eyes eyed him suspiciously.

"Traitor?"

The question uttered from her mouth was terse, brief and unfeminine, but again Sasuke found no fault in her. She had every right to be a skeptic.

"Absolutely not!" Naruto proclaimed loudly. "I trust him with my life!"

"Naruto!" Lady Tsunade warned. The younger man bit his lip and regained his silent composure behind the woman. "Hana, I have been informed that you are well capable of enabling these seals to disrupt Taka's chakra flow. Do this, and he will be rendered harmless. I trusted you as the leader of this mission not only for your brilliance in leading a team but also because I know you can perform these duties on a teammate with no hesitation."

Hana bowed as a reply.

"Taka." Lady Tsunade turned her attention to Sasuke. "You are never to stray far from Hana's side. She is your commander and master for this mission. Anything she says is law to you. Hana, Taka is very strong. And while he does not possess your superior intelligence, he has strength that you can never tap into. Use him as a tool if you want. He needs to learn humility."

Again Hana bowed. Sasuke lowered his head as well, though underneath his mask he was seething. For some reason it bothered him to be defaced in front of such a capable ninja. Sasuke was automatically programed to assert his superiority over any person, whether friend or foe, but especially to this woman he wanted to appear strong.

Tsunade finally reached across her desk and pulled the cork off of the sake bottle she had been saving. Pouring herself a glass from the bottle, she raised it to her lips. "You're dismissed."

Four days in the expansive forest would have had any normal person itching with symptoms of cabin fever, but Sasuke remained impassive under his mask. He could tell that Tohru, a man who he discerned as a very young and impulsive ninja, was hankering for a conversation between his ANBU teammates, but such breech of protocol was forbidden. ANBU were expected to concentrate on completing the mission, communicating with each other only for strategy purposes. It was essential for each of the members of the squad to remain anonymous, even to each other. Open communication used frequently between traditional squads allowed for the possibility that they could discover their true identities. They did indeed live in the same village together. In order to acheive plausible deniability in case of capture, Sasuke could never know the true identity of Tohru. Or of Hana.

Which indeed was a most troubling difficulty. Sasuke couldn't quite pin his fascination with Hana on any one instance. She, naturally, did not speak. Her actions were carefully planned out and even more carefully executed. Each step of their journey was guided on the wise protection of Hana's ever-changing plans. At times she would indicate in the evening their present course, and the next morning would shift it slightly. Sasuke knew this to be a credible strategy for keeping enemies off the ANBU trail, but at times he felt there might be a hint of overkill. As if she were changing her plans just so she could give him orders. Indeed, she treated Sasuke similarly to a hunting dog. She often sent him to scout, to set up camp, to do sometimes seemingly meaningless tasks. Sasuke naturally obeyed every order but not without a hint of disdain, especially when she had once left him behind from scouting to polish her weapons. Like a servant.

She had a strange way of moving as well, Sasuke saw over the days, when he would unabashedly watch her from beneath his mask. Her muscles would bunch and contract, as if she were tensed, and then relax in the next second, though forcibly done. Sasuke could never put a finger on why, though.

"Taka," she said in a low voice now, and Sasuke raised his head to hear her. "We are nearing the Land of Sky. When we arrive there, I am sure we will be _escorted _to the lord's courts. When this happens, you will not be accompanying Tohru and I inside the court. You will hide and await outside."

Sasuke started, confused.

"Out of Tohru and myself, you are more likely to be able to be able to hide yourself completely. I fear that the Land of Sky has already been taken by Namura. There have been signs that we have been followed the past two days and not with friendly eyes. When we are taken into the court, Tohru and I will act oblivious. You, however, will find a discreet way to hide and assist us from the outside. I will give you intruction from the inside."

Sasuke slowly nodded, though he was a bit miffed at the fact that she realized that they were being followed and he did not.

"The seals," she said, and her voice was a little over a whisper, "sometimes, during the first few months of being enacted, prevent the wearer from using the full extent of their chakra. I am well aware you are not operating at your finest in this situation."

Under his mask, Sasuke's eyes widened. "Limited chakra?" he whispered.

"Limited," she said tersely, raising herself from her crouching position to stand above him. Tohru, who had been pacing across the clearing in impatience, now stood facing the trees. "You heard us, yes?" she asked him.

Tohru nodded slowly and resumed pacing, an action Sasuke mentally frowned at. This kid must be very green to have such restless energy in the face of a mission.

As if in agreement, Hana said, "Calm yourself, Tohru. It will not be more than half a day before we reach the Land of Sky. We're leaving."

They traveled mostly in the trees, their chakras suppressed to the point where even animals could not sense their presence. Sasuke enjoyed the feeling of speed and invisibility surrounding him like a black cloak in an inky night. While moving with such repitition and under the leadership of Hana, Sasuke allowed his thoughts to wander as he flitted effortlessly from tree to tree. And he was not surprised to find that the first thing he thought of was Sakura, laughing like a vagabond in the bar while downing glass after glass of sake like a champion drinker. He smiled ruefully remembering how savage and sensual she had been, drunk and depressed as hell over Naruto, her and his best friend, marrying Hinata and not her.

He hadn't seen Sakura since, and it had been months ago that they...

Sasuke cut off that train of thought before it took over his brain completely. He had mulled over and over again what exactly had happened to his heart and body to allow such an event to take place and found no answers except in his memories: how pleasant (ironically so) Sakura's bitter laughter had been and how arousing her scent was in his blankets the morning after. He was grateful that the mission had kept his thoughts occupied, but at times like this when he was allowed to think on his own, he always seemed to think of her. Her sensuality and power were what kept his thoughts trained on her. And how she had changed. When they were children, she had been nothing more than a nuisance at times, though eventually he had accepted her as one of his closest friends.

However, on his return to the village, Sakura had largely ignored him in favor of spending her extra time with Naruto. Even now Sasuke had to assume that Sakura's thoughts were full of Naruto, no matter what they had done together. In fact Sasuke had gone as far as to accepting the night they had together as a substitute for a night Sakura desperately wanted to have with Naruto.

Though the thought disturbed him greatly.

A presence ahead dragged Sasuke from his thoughts, and he once again schooled himself to pay attention to his mission.

"Tohru, pay attention," he heard Hana mutter quickly, and Tohru's masked head abruptly snapped to face forward.

Again Sasuke felt that Tohru's behavior seemed to be that of a novice, but he refrained from saying anything.

The line of trees cleared slowly, a low path forming at the base of a winding river, which Hana left the trees to follow, slowing her pace considerably. "Release your hold on your chakra, Tohru," she ordered, "but Taka, keep yours masked. When you can sense the greeting party's presence, leave us."

Sasuke nodded and doubled his control over his senses to dim his chakra. Even though he was walking beside Hana in broad daylight, to a ninja he was invisible.

As the trees thinned and the path widened, Sasuke could feel the slight upturn of the path also increase. When they seemed to have reached the zenith of the incline, the road abruptly dropped off like a precipice. Before the group of ANBU the Land of Sky was a giant crater hallowed out in the center of a circle of trees. And in the center of the crater, three large plateau-like spires loomed thousands of feet in the air, connected by natually formed bridges of stone. Sasuke's eyes were sharp and with them he could perceive small buildings dotting the tops of the plateau, but he could get no better view with the white clouds impeding his vision. The wind whipped a bitter cold breeze that chilled Sasuke to the bone, and a shiver both from the temperature and an impending sense of doom ran through his body.

"Taka," he heard Hana say in a low voice. "Leave us now. The welcoming party is on its way. Wait for a signal, understood?"

He nodded silently and looked over toward Tohru, who stood motionless and impassive before the Land of Sky. Sasuke found it odd that the young man who had seemed to antsy before no longer displayed the restlessness he'd had before.

Sasuke eyed the young man with slitted lids and placed a hand on Hana's shoulder as he made to leave. "Be careful, Hana."

She inclined her head toward him, and he noted the way the light of the sun danced off the glistening sweat on her neck but pushed aside the thought just as quickly. "You also, Taka."

And then he vanished, hidden once again in the line of trees. He chose consciously to remain within eyesight so he could keep a sharp eye on his team. It wasn't long before the welcome party arrived, approaching the two ANBU so quickly that Sasuke barely had time to register it. He gritted his teeth and longed to activate his Sharingan, but that would cause a spike in his chakra, which he couldn't allow.

There were at least half a dozen ninja in the welcome party, all of them standing over a head taller than Hana, yet the petite kunoichi didn't seem phased in the least, her shoulders squared and authorative as she gave them a stiff bow before accompanying them, Tohru walking in pace with her. In a few moments, they were out of sight, ascending to the Land of Sky.

**Back to the present, in the halls of the ninja building.**

Stalking down the hall like a fearsome shadow, no one dared stop the sinister Uchiha whose eyes began to bleed red in rage. No one dared to stop him save for the future Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki. They collided like an invisible wave of energy, Sasuke fiercely struggling to get by before Naruto calmed him with a few quick, logical whispers. "Where are you going? You can't leave unless I release your seals, you moron!"

Sasuke paused for only a moment. "Then release them."

Naruto sighed. "Sasuke, there's no trace of her. Even if I let you out, there's a chance you won't find her..."

"The kidnapper said I could find him. He must have left me clues of some sort."

"Then let me come with you!" Naruto cried.

Sasuke shook his head. "You can't. You're the Hokage now. You can't just leave the village for one ninja. And Sakura's... my problem."

Naruto saw the pained look in his eyes despite the fact that Sasuke had just demoted his wife's situation as a mere problem. But that was Sasuke's way of dealing with things. Even if he was married, he was still terrified to admit to himself that Sakura meant as much to him as his parents had. He'd forged bonds with yet another human, and now he was paying for the connection with the threat of it breaking forever.

Naruto placed hands firmly on Sasuke's shoulders. "This is going to hurt like hell. But if you stay conscious, you can leave sooner."

The surge of red and white chakra sent a jolt of pain all through Sasuke's body so violently that he allowed himself to lose his mind in its embrace.

**CHAPTER 3 END.**

**Yes, the plot thickens! I must say, describing the ANBU black ops is probably the most fun I've had on this story. I'm excessively enthusiastic about the feelings behind the masks and also the tradition and rules behind being an ANBU. The clever Hana and novice Tohru have identities that will soon be revealed, so keep reading!**

**And thanks so much to those of you who have reviewed. You're all rather brilliant.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Note: This story begins inside of Sasuke's memory. In other words, we are a few years in the past at this point, in the Land of Sky. **

**Oh, and thanks to **Halfkyuubikat. **I've never had a better review before, and I couldn't reply to it, which vexed me exceedingly! (My email didn't give me a reply URL and I really try to reply to all the good reviews!) And for those of you with questions as to the time skips, I've made them more apparent with huge lines of breakage. You'll see. Thanks so much again for reading**.

**Do enjoy.**

**ps. I've had some problems establishing a time break with no words, so for now I'm just gonna say FUCK IT and make the time breaks PAINFULLY obvious because the uploader is being a pain in my ass. SO FROM NOW ON TIME BREAKS WILL BE MENTIONED EXPLICITLY. JEZUS...**

**Origins of the New Uchiha**

**Chapter 4. **

**In the past, in the Land of Sky.**

The mission, somehow, had gone horribly wrong.

In the night, Hana's summon of a snail appeared to Sasuke in a terribly distressed state, its counterpart that was attatched to Hana's chest under a great turmoil to keep Hana alive.

"You must hurry!" it squeaked. "She is under great duress! My counterpart is losing chakra quickly!"

Sasuke flitted through the trees, his mind somehow calm and collected. He did not let his fondness for Hana cloud his judgment. His eyes and ears were wide open as he expanded his chakra to search for enemies. Seeing none, he focused chakra to his feet and scaled the ninty degree angle of the Land of Sky's cliff face at a full speed run.

"Hurry!" the snail on his shoulder prodded again. Sasuke doubled his pace and gathered chakra to the surrounding air, slicing it with his body as he translated to the top of the plateau. The city was shrouded in darkness, small round buildings evenly spaced against the taller, more auspicious structures, but Sasuke saw absolutely no people in sight. Under his mask, he schooled his expression into blankness as the heavy wind brought the scent of death to his nostrils.

As he turned a corner, the red, dirt ground sliding under his feet, Sasuke saw the inhabitants of the city laid out on the ground, hundreds of them. They were all dead. Men, women, children caked in their own blood and staring wide-eyed up at him. They were arranged in the square at the center of the village, a trap they could not escape. All of them were stiff with rigamortis and unmoving, even when the wind blew with enough violence to nearly tear Sasuke from his feet. Though at that point Sasuke couldn't tell if it was the wind or his own troubled mind that threatened to bring him to his knees.

This was not the first massacre Sasuke had seen. Another similar incident flashed across his vision as if it were truly there, and he physically flinched at the thought. Grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins. Sasuke saw each of the faces now laid out on the dirty ground as if they were his own family. He dared not enter any of the houses, knowing he would be unable to bear the sight of figures hunched in death over each other, like how his own parents had been...

"Please!" the snail implored once again. "She is close! You-"

The snail poofed away in the next second, and Sasuke was spurred into action. The snail's abrupt disappearance meant that Hana had lost enough chakra that she was unable to uphold her own summon. He expanded his chakra range and noticed a flickering of energy close by, surrounded by other more sinister energies.

He gritted his teeth and prepared himself to alight in the directions of the chakra, but a voice stopped him.

"Taka!"

Sasuke turned, Tohru rushing up behind him. He was panting, a wound in his side which he held with a free hand while the other shakily clutched a kunai.

Sasuke grabbed Tohru by his shoulders, bringing his comrade to his knees so he could take a look at his injuries. He assessed quickly that while painful, they were nothing more than flesh wounds, looking worse than they actually were. "What happened?" he asked quickly. "Hana hasn't sent me a report in two days. Tonight I was awakened by a summon that lead me here."

"A summon?" Tohru repeated slowly, his eyes shifting quickly from behind the mask. "I see... So that's how she did it. Clever girl..."

Sasuke was growing impatient. "What?"

Tohru raised his head. "The city had already been taken by the rogue ninja, as Hana said. They split us up inside the palace. What they did to her, I don't know... But I noticed tonight that the guard was much less, and they seemed to be restless. I managed to escape in the confusion. She must have made a diversion of some kind..."

Sasuke nodded while his mind mulled over the facts. He had departed from Hana and Tohru over two days prior, and he hadn't received any word from Hana until he'd gotten the summon on his shoulder. But while the idea of capture was possible, there were still holes in Tohru's story...

"What happened here?"

Tohru looked around to the carnage and then turned back to Sasuke. "I don't know."

He narrowed his eyes.

A distant scream jerked the two ninja's attentions back to the present and Sasuke grit his teeth in his jaw. "Other villagers. We must save them."

"What of Hana?" Tohru asked.

"She can handle herself."

Sasuke immediately focused his chakra and translated to the point where he figured the scream had emerged, though it pained him to do so. Hana's safety weighed heavily on his mind, but he could do nothing for a ninja he could not find. The remaining villagers were first priority.

A muffled scream of surprise was heard beside him, a reaction he expected, and he quickly tore down the enemy ninja before him before the man could finish his alarmed cry. Sasuke delt the blow quickly and quietly, so that the others did not see him until it was too late. There were six of them in total. They were clothed in all black, no forehead protector or other markings to identify themselves on their clothing or skin. Before them was another group of innocent people, huddled inside a clearing in a tight circle. The ninjas approached them devilishly, and Sasuke could feel the blood lust in their stance. He felt his body go light as air as he produced his katana, letting it sizzle with the chidori's lightning before he sliced down one of the six ninja.

The other five gasped in horror as their comrade's blood flashed like fireworks on their faces and bodies. They were sprayed with the bodily fluids of one man, and though Sasuke mentally conceded that the action may have been a little bit ostentatious, he took a savage joy in the fact that he would be giving justice to the families he'd seen murdered in cold blood.

Like a wraith, Sasuke translated behind the second ninja, slicing through his midsection in one fell swoop, the chidori cracking and hissing in sheer joy at being fed the blood of a murderer. The villager's screams then reached Sasuke's ears as he cut through two more of the enemy, decapitating them in a series of sharp movements.

Behind him, Sasuke felt rather than saw Tohru's presence.

He moved quickly onto the last ninja, who did not get the chance to even retaliate as Sasuke grabbed his neck with his bare hands, snapping it like a twig between his fingers and savoring the gurgling sound the ninja made as he fell to the dirty ground below. The blood of the ninja's comrades flowed to the point where Sasuke's boots leaked red ink when he walked toward the villagers.

"Flee," he said in a hiss, the adrenaline and agression from his slaughter hot in his veins.

The villagers needed no further prompting, scurrying out of sight in an instant, grabbing their children and elderly as well.

"You're amazing," Tohru whispered behind Sasuke. The young Uchiha then heard a soft chuckle. "Though not enough, I'd say."

Before Sasuke could respond, he felt a searing pain wrench itself from his midrift up his spine like fire. A blade seared with fire and sinister chakra split Sasuke's back nearly in two and before he could even form a reply, he crumbled to the ground.

Tohru's laughter echoed through Sasuke's startled ears. He truly hadn't seen it coming. ANBU were a special type of ninja, chosen by the most elite of the village, tested and proven to be true. To be a traitor and an ANBU was impossible...

"Surprised?" Tohru whispered into Sasuke's ear as he cruelly dug a finger into Sasuke's bleeding spine. Sasuke stifled a groan by clenching his teeth. "Hana was too of course. But I really didn't think she'd figure out a way to get word to you so quick or that I was Shin...

"Shin Namura?" Sasuke coughed, blood drooling from his mouth and down the side of his cheek. Shin laughed haughtily, digging more fingers in Sasuke's wound until the Uchiha had to let out a groan of pain. "You fucking bastard!" he growled against the growing dizziness. "How did you- ughhh!" Shin had replaced his fingers with the dagger, making the wound in Sasuke's back bigger, slicing through once unmarred skin.

"Now, now," Shin said in a husky voice, experiencing some sort of demonic thrill from the pain he was inflicting on Sasuke. "Some things even the gods can not explan. Can't we leave it at that?"

Sasuke's vision was beginning to spot, the blood running from his mouth leaking upward from the angle of his face near his eyes, which was a strange feeling. He'd never been in so much pain befpre that it caused numbness. Despite his approaching death, however, Sasuke had a mind enough to think of Hana. "What," he gasped, "what did you do with Hana?"

At this Shin laughed wickedly, his voice a high cackle. "Oh, this and that, nothing serious. Though I must say, she's quite the woman, isn't she? Oh, so pretty. Lovely eyes... And smart as well. I didn't think she could kill all those guards too. And even wound me." He smiled. "We _Hidden Leaf Ninja_ certainly are something, aren't we?"

Sasuke spat in indignation. "We?" he repeated. "You're scum!"

"Oh, come now, Taka," Shin said in that teasing voice, pulling Sasuke's mask from his head with a swift jerk on the terf of his hair. "Or should I say _Sasuke Uchiha_? I knew it was you the minute the Hokage talked about your seals. I'd done my research on you."

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"And you're one to talk of being a traitor," he continued. "Wasn't it you who left the village to join Orochimaru? And then the Akatsuki? I'm sure you would still be on the run if it wasn't for your... _superior connections_. It's interesting to think about it though, right? Being fellow traitors... You could say that you and I are just like..." He licked his teeth. "_Brothers_."

Sasuke flinched at the offending word, another wave of pain shattering his senses briefly, while his heart ached in his chest. _Sasuke had a brother!_ And Itachi had been no traior, though Sasuke hadn't known it at the time. Itachi had been loyal not only to his village but to his family to the very end. Sasuke had failed Itachi... not only by losing his own soul in the path to revenge but also in losing his own mind in joining the Akatsuki, defacing Itachi's will for Sasuke's life.

And now, Sasuke's feverish mind thought blankly, he would die without ever making it up to Naruto, his brother as well. He would never even be useful to the village that had worked hard to save him.

"Well, I've had enough fun with you," Shin said, though to Sasuke his voice sounded muffled. He heard the sound of a blade being raised, the metal humming through the windy air.

Here was when Sasuke finally thought of Sakura. She was like a vision in his mind, laughing and drinking sake. Her eyes danced with a gleeful and lustful glow, and a smirk played on the corner of her mouth like a delicate kiss. Her body beneath his had been the most gratifying physical experience Sasuke had ever received from another human being, though Sasuke now admitted to himself that it wasn't the act that had been so gratifying. It'd been the person.

Sasuke could see the chain of events unravel before him as if he were at the cinema. How he'd returned and how bitter he'd felt to know Sakura no longer desired him. How his curiosity in watching her long for Naruto was merely a mask of pure jealousy. How during the wedding he'd secretly been gratified that Sakura was somehow safe from Naruto, that she couldn't have him. And then how wonderful it'd felt to claim her, draw her in, _feel her._

Sasuke had refused to admit it to himself previously, but his watchful eye over Sakura during her one-sided love with Naruto had merely been a facade to Sasuke's growing admiration for the kunoichi. He watched her conquer becoming a jounin, watched her defeat the trials to ascend to ANBU, had somehow worried over whenever she would leave for a mission, and now he realized rather blatantly that he'd never lay eyes on her again.

And it pained him more than deep gash across his back.

Above him Shin's eyes peered into him as if he were an animal, longing for the blood of his prey. The blade in Shin's hands was already caked in blood, some of it dripping onto Sasuke's face and chest. Shin gave a yell of joy and adrenaline as he brought the blade down.

But before steel could touch flesh again, the swift sound of a kunai thudding into a blunt object hit Sasuke's ears. Shin froze in position, his sword over Sasuke's head, his eyes wide and unbelieving. "You were here... and you... hid from me?" Shin said in a unbelieveing whisper before he fell to his side, drawing his last breaths with painful hisses. In his back Sasuke saw six well-placed kunai, each of them striking a vital organ so accurately that the blood coating the ground began to mingle with Sasuke's.

"Taka!"

The voice was cool and sweet in Sasuke's ears, muffled by the feeling of losing consciousness. But Sasuke began to realize slowly that Hana was not calling Taka's name but his own.

"Sasuke!" she said fiercely, and shooting pain brought him back to full awareness.

"H-Hana," he panted, his arms scrambling upward to meet with her soft, pale skin. He could see her mask, the fox painted in vicious red blood and dripping slightly in places, hovering over him like a ghost.

"Relax," she ordered him sternly. "Don't breathe too heavily. He cut you very deeply."

He started to feel the waves of pain slowly subside under a warm and chakra-filled touch. A soft green light errupted from his skin and her fingers, mingling like water.

"Hana," he whispered, clutching her arms while she worked on him. "How...?"

"Tohru, that _bastard_, was fucking Shin Namura, the very fucking _bastard_ we were sent to kill!" she hissed in pure rage. "I don't know how he did it, but he sullied everything it means to be ANBU and betrayed us to the Land of Sky's rogues. He delivered me straight to their hands... I was," here she hesitated, "indisposed for a few days. I won't apologize for my weakness." She said this with a stiff mouth. "I'll only say that I am not in the best condition for a fight. My summon must have told you that I was fading, but I managed to escape the prison they put me in."

Sasuke could feel his muscles and organs slowly stitching themselves together, an experience that was both comforting and painful in tiny pulsing movements. As she healed the nerves, he could feel the pain, but he also could feel the comfort she offered him as well. He'd been healed enough in his time to recognize what a surge of pain-relieving chakra was.

"Shin knew who were were," he heard her say, her voice fading in and out as if she were far away then suddenly close. "But he didn't think I'd be strong enough to blast through the concrete walls. Hah, serves him right for not digging enough about me."

_Shin knew who Hana was_, Sasuke thought. It was the only thing he had gleaned from what she had said. He could hear her voice, feel her touch, but he didn't know her real name or even what she looked like. In his hazy, warped brain, that somehow meant a great deal to him. Slowly, very slowly, his fingers snaked up her arm to her chin then to where her chin met her neck and where the mask was clasped together.

She stopped moving and put a hand over his. "No."

"You know me. Shin knows you," he said in a whisper. " You know my name."

"You're famous." She briskly pushed him back. "Everyone knows you."

"You _know_ me." He leaned upwards, his hands clasped behind her head and neck. He could feel the gentle locks of soft hair under her mask. He panted as his fingers worked quickly, loosening the ties before she could protest. The face of a fox gave way to a shimmering stream of pink hair, flowing out of the ties of her hood in a pool that spread to his chest. Her green eyes were filled with surprise and a naked intensity that sent a jolt strait through his heart.

"Sakura," he whispered.

She shoved a hand roughly against his chest, forcing him to lay flat on his back. "You need to stay calm."

"You're Hana," he breathed, his eyes lolling to and fro over her figure as if he couldn't believe it. "You knew who I was..."

"You're an idiot... And I couldn't help it. Your marks..."

Just like how Shin had found out his identity. His hands trembled, the seals easily seen on his forearms as her chakra began to mingle with his. "How did you know I had them? Hana would know, but I never showed them-"

"Seals like that are easily seen when you're body is in a heightened state," she said quickly, not meeting him in the eyes. "Of course I've seen them."

_Heightened state,_ Sasuke thought dimly before his mind registered what exactly she was saying. When they'd been _together._.. that was certainly a heightened state. He hadn't noticed it at the time but of course she had. She'd seen his unclothes body just as he'd seen her. He warmed slightly as well when he also realized that this was the first they had talked about that night since it'd happened.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she placed a hand over his lips. "Stay silent. I don't want to hear about past mistakes."

He winced at the words.

She ignored it. "Stay relaxed."

He had no intention of calmly laying back and obeying her, but a noise in the distance startled them both.

Sakura swore viciously under her breath. "The other rogues. Dammit, I thought we could escape in time..."

Of course she hadn't forseen that he'd be wounded at their comrade, Tohru's hand.

Sasuke thought very quickly despite his bleeding back and chest, which was slowly yet surely being healed at her capable hands. "Leave me."

"Bull shit!"

He was startled by the vulgar language coming out of Sakura's mouth once more. "You have no choice. You can either leave me and live, or stay and die. You think the Hokage will accept a complete failure? You think _Naruto_ would want you dead?"

Sakura flinched as if she had been slapped at the sound of the blonde ninja's name, and she closed her eyes in pain. "Don't act like you know what you're talking about," she hissed. Grabbing Sasuke by the collar of his torn shirt she bellowed in his face, "You listen to me! _I _am the captain of this team, and I'll see that both you and I make it through this _just to spite you_!"

She threw him back down on the ground, his back hitting the cold eath with a painful jolt that sent stars into his eyes. By the time he could focus once more, he could hardly recognize the seals she began forming with her fingers. Her hands moved at lightning speeds and she was murmuring the names of the seals under her breath. He could feel the chakra gathering inside her, waiting to be expelled in a poweful justu.

"With this, you will heal right away," she said in a low voice, "but I will be left defenseless. You must kill all of them. They are many, but you're you. I believe in you."

The words were like small daggers to his heart.

He could abruptly feel the energies of uncountable ninjas, who were going to be upon them in seconds like a wave.

Sakura looked him deeply in the eyes. "I always did believe in you..."

"Sakura," he gasped, trying to reach out for her, but with a low cry she forced her hands onto his chest with a smacking sound, and everything in his heart, soul, mind, and body cried out all at once in an expansive void of agony. Every nerve was set ablaze, every rational thought was scattered to the wind, and there was only a blatant and feral rush of energy. There was no longer right or wrong, love or hope, good and evil. The acceptance of such a passionately hungry chakra sent Sasuke into a feral state, and though his body moved and his sword swung over his head in a deadly hissing arc of blue and green energy, he could not feel as if he were attatched to it. He was a void, a mere bystander to his body's display of awesome power and carnage.

When he was done, when his high had finally descended into a semblence of sanity, there was nothing left. The forest had been reduced to rubble and sticks, the villagers long gone but the remains of the rogue ninjas decimated and stretched out in the rays of the rising sun. The whole Land of Sky had been brought to its knees by one man's fury.

Sasuke panted and leaned heavily on his sword before colapsing to his knees. His throat was parched, and he coughed dust and air to vacate his dry lungs.

He blinked and finally realized that he saw no Sakura. In a panic, he quickly, though painfully, rose to his feet and clamored around the wasteland, searching with fevered eyes amongst dust and debris. For a moment, a sheer blind moment of fear, he thought he might have killed her and somehow dissolved her body into bits, but a small movement to his right caught his eye.

Sakura coughed and emerged from under the shelter of a fallen tree, her ANBU mask hanging off her neck and on the side of her shoulder. Her clothes, once pristine and black as midnight, were tattered around her shoulders and knees and white from the earth and dust coating her body. On her hands and face was the red spatter of fresh blood, though Sasuke could not tell if it was hers or someone else's.

He limped toward her as she gained her feet, swaying slightly. "You're back," she said, her words slurring. "Good. We can move on to the settlements."

Sasuke grabbed Sakura by her shoulders, finding himself shaking. She gasped at first he thought in surprise, but as he got a better look, he realized that the sharp intake of breath was of pain. And the blood on her hands and face was hers.

"Sakura!" he breathed, catching her as she fell back to her knees. When he pulled his hand away from her back, he saw blood coating his skin.

"Relax," she spat back in his face. "This is nothing. Merely half of what you had. It was required to heal you."

"You had to take my injury on yourself... to heal me?"

She nodded slowly. "Though only half of it. Or I'd be dead. And this," She raised a hand from her stomach, revealing where a good majority of the blood was pooling, "was from Shin. Bastard... It was how he revealed himself: with a smile and a stab to the gut." She released another pained curse through gritted teeth.

Sasuke could hardly believe the kunoichi before him was formerly a girl who used to cry from being too tired. Such a transformation from that girl to the hardened warrior cursing before him was dramatic to say the least.

"What are you staring at?" she growled, her eyes blazing brightly despite her weakened condition. Sasuke then realized that Sakura was still in _Hana_ mode. She was still the leader of the mission and still his superior, despite all their previous connection. And she was not willing to grant him any quarter simply because he knew who she was.

He inclined his head to look down to her knees, a sign of respect for his commander. "Orders?"

She straitened herself, applying a strong hand to her own wound. With her other hand she fixated her mask on her face again. "The villagers. We must get to them first."

Sasuke nodded and followed her at a slow walk while she regained her bearings on the place. She turned back to him. "I cannot go on. I can wait for you here while you meet with the villagers and arrange a message for the Hokage with a summon."

"With what chakra?" he asked mockingly.

She was on him in a second, a firm hand around his throat. "Was that back talk?" she hissed. "Am I to report that I had to kill _two_ traitors, _Taka_?"

In a moment and with those words, he understood completely. Sakura would no longer be recognized as Sakura. She would be Hana from now until the mission was over. There would be no contesting this. She would make sure of it.

He also placed his mask, which had somehow been hanging on the clasp in his belt, over his head. "Understood. Though," here he chose his words carefully, "I can carry you rather than leave you. It's the fastest and best solution."

She did not move nor speak for a few moments, seeming to size him up. He allowed himself to look over her, to study her. She had such a proud stance, agressive and intimidating. She had replaced her hair with her hood again, covering her long locks so that she looked once again more ghost than human. Her body, a body which he had enjoyed and seen in its most sensuous form, was rock solid and without flaw. Surely this was the body of a warrior, one who he could deem as his equal though not in strength. She certainly outmatched him in sheer cunning.

"Fine," she bit, and she relaxed her posture enough to allow him to approach. He scooped up her legs in one arm while his other supported her torso, enjoying the feeling of her body, though he didn't allow himself to think that for more than a milisecond. Through his clothes he could feel her heart beat which was erratic and uneven. He could also feel the blood pool through her clothes and his, touching his skin. Both sensations worried him greatly, though Sakura seemed unwilling to give any sign she was in pain. He decided early on to move quickly to where the villagers were hiding. He flexed slightly and attempted to activate his sharingan, which, though with great effort, finally powered up. He breathed a sigh of relief, finally able to use his true blood-line, an ability which had been restricted from him the moment he'd returned to the Hidden Leaf years ago.

He could feel rather than hear Sakura's grunt of disdain. "I had to give the Sharingan back to you. It was the only way to save us. I released that part of your seal, though know that the rest of it is still in tact. If the Hokage chooses, when you return to the village, she'll place another seal on your eyes."

He looked down to her, only her chakra visible to him. He was surprised not only to find it a silver-green color but also it was dangerously small, branching out of her chest in tiny flares and not even reaching the extent of her extremities, such as her legs and fingers. He knew she must be completely numb in these areas. She needed a healer and rest as soon as possible, though he had no idea how to get her either...

"Head toward... toward the villagers," she said in between gasps.

He paused to ask if she was alright, but she hit him soundly on the chest to emphasize her unwillingness to be trifled with. He thought it redundant to say anything in response and took off through the trees.

He hated how much energy he had, how spectacular his body felt running through the trees and holding Sakura like she was lighter than air. He had energy he could easily give back to her if he had her skills. He'd never desired the ability of a healer previously, even to heal himself, but now it seemed almost a waste to him that he had only taught himself to end life, rather than save it.

"We're getting close," she said in a low, tired voice.

She was right. He could see the blue energy sources of the villagers through the dark shadows he knew to be trees. There looked to be hundreds if not thousands of them, and he assumed they were approaching a once minor part of the village that now had become a shelter to all the refugees. Sure enough, the Land of Sky's traditional architecture soon loomed out of the forest, small and large domes popping up in the distance.

He landed before the main gates of the city, which were the same design as the Hidden Leaf's main gate though infinitely smaller and more defenseless. However, to support diplomacy, he stopped and waited.

Within half a minute the gates opened with a long creaking noise and three men approached Sasuke. They were taller than Sasuke by over a head, thin, with irregular faces that seemed to be fixed in a scowl. Their clothes were a vibrant and clean, cream and red, with bronze trimmings, and their skins were all tan, more than likely from being so close to the sun. Sasuke did not bow to either of them, as was custom of ANBU.

"Put me down," Sakura instructed in a whisper, "but hold my back so I do not waver. I'll have to talk with them. They don't know who we are."

"I could-"

"No you can't," she snapped with finality.

Sasuke did as told without another word, putting her very gently down and placing an arm on the small of her back, discreetly so as not to reveal her weakened condition.

She inclined her head toward the men as they stopped almost ten feet away. The one man in the middle, who appeared to be slightly larger than the rest though very thin the same, stepped forward. "Hidden Leaf Ninja?"

"Yes," Sakura replied in a strong voice, but she leaned heavily on Sasuke's arm. "Are you the man in charge here?"

He did not answer immediately, looking to his companions and licking his lips. They nodded slowly and he turned back to the ANBU. "So it would seem. I am Hiro, the temporary village leader, though we have no Hokage like you."

"We are ANBU Black Ops from the Hidden Leaf," Sakura introduced. "Your Hidden Sky Village has been destroyed by rogue ninja, but my partner and I have eliminated them. Your lands, for now at least, are safe. The Hidden Leaf offers you a hand of protection in these unstable times as you piece your elite back together. When you have ample protection, we will leave you to yourselves, but for now we wish to stay with you and offer you our services in exchange for asylum."

The older man smirked. "Yes, lady. For all your pride, I can see very well your need for asylum. Your injuries are extensive."

Sakura stiffened slightly.

"But," the man continued, "you plan to offer my people the protection of the Hidden Leaf? At what cost?"

"None," Sakura said firmly. "The Hidden Leaf's sixth Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki, as well as the current Fifth, want to change the way Hidden Villages interact. The new Hokage wishes to extend friendship in the time of need for any who require it. We are servants to his wishes."

Sasuke noted the shivers of despair that shook his heart as he heard the evident warmth in her voice as she spoke of Naruto. Naruto who she still loved...

Hiro raised his eyebrows and looked both Sasuke and Sakura up and down for a good minute. Sasuke could tell he was no simpleton and that Sakura's claim, though honest and sincerely spoken, must seem like a load of hogwash to a man who has more than likely been through a majority of the great ninja wars.

"Very well," he said at last. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. "But know this: I do not allow you into my home because I believe the promises of a young and eager Hokage. I do it because you are wounded, and the man behind you who is holding you up cares for you greatly. In his posture and stance, he is tensed and longs for your wounds to be tended. I have seen many a ninja, especially the elite, kill wounded comrades to cut off dead weight. You Leaf ninja impress me."

He bowed his head and extended his arms.

"Welcome to the Land of Sky."

**To the Present. **

Naruto's jutsu would release Sasuke's seals, but without fainting, the process would be extremely painful.

Despite this, Sasuke did not faint. He refused to, hands grasping Naruto's forearms like a vice. They were his landline to the world and he held them until the last ripples of the mind-numbing pain left his senses clear and powerful. Like how it had been years ago when Sakura had released his seal, he felt a surge of adrenaline and chakra boil through him like a current of lava in his veins. He straitened, activated his Sharingan and inclined his head to Naruto in a wordless thanks.

Naruto's blue eyes narrowed, flecks of dangerous red crawling from the pupils into the irises. "You bring her back and kill those sons of bitches that took her."

Sasuke nodded and allowed a venemous anger along with intent to kill consume him. "Yes."

And he was gone, translated out of the room and indeed out of the villager borders into the forests of the Hidden Leaf, the area blazing past him.

Finally he arrived at the exact place he had fainted the night before, grimacing in sheer rage at the memory of it. How he'd been unable to help his wife and unborn child out of the hands of a mad man. For the upteenth time since he'd returned to the Hidden Leaf, he cursed his own stupidity in betraying the place of his birth. He seemed to be paying for his betrayal over and over again, and now it was even in the process of killing the one thing he couldn't stand to lose. If he lost Sakura now...

No, he wouldn't think of it. At this point, he was able to admit that there was no life without Sakura. There was no point in attempting to comprehend it.

He placed a hand in the earth, feeling the moist ground where not more than twelve hours ago, Sakura had knelt. In his fingers he soon held a long stand of glistening pink hair. He surveyed the strand, lacing it around his hand as he looked ahead. Not a meter before him another strand lay on a pile of leaves, dancing in the sun like fire.

Sasuke thought deeply back to the night before, about Sakura's wide vacant stare and the blood on the side of her head, her swollen, weak body-

_Stop_, he commanded himself. He had to look at this objectively no matter how hard it might be for him. He had to look at Sakura as a ninja. He thought back again, to her eyes. They were wide yes, startled yes, but vacant?

He thought deeply.

No, not vacant. The last time she had opened her eyes, they had met his. He recalled how her hair had mulled over her face, disconnecting their locking eyes for a milisecond before she had found him again. She wanted him to see her hair, to know she was in her right mind. She was thinking, calculating even then. She knew she was out of his reach, and she left, however discreet, a trail for him to follow strait to her.

Another few meters in that direction and another strand of hair lay on a tree in his path, and he knew that Sakura was leading him.

He allowed himself a single moment of blind prayer to whatever god or diety was out there, begging for Sakura's safe return. If he could have her back and tell her how clever she was for finding a way to lead him, he would be satisfied for the rest of his life.

For now, he continued on the path she'd marked for him.

**Chapter 4 end. **

**Well, I hope that perhaps things were a bit clearer with the time jumps... It's kind of hard I suppose with installments coming out every few days. See, I wrote this as one massive work, rather than a few chapters. Reading the last few paragraphs of a previous story might help... Though I'm not sure.**

**Anyway, yes, Hana was Sakura (I'm sure _no one_ saw that coming, though I thought Tohru's betrayal might have been a _little_ less expected...) and they are both in the Land of Sky's last village, which is considerably smaller than the first one (the one with the massacre in it) but it will grow quickly as the new capital of the Land of Sky (since the other was practically destroyed). **

**Oh, and I wanted to explain (while I'm explaining things) why Sakura was healing Sasuke's chest rather than his back, because he was laying on it to look up at her. In the anime and manga, I notice that Sakura usually focuses her chakra on the wound itself if it is small, but also she puts the chakra in the chest to heal much larger wounds (Naruto healing from being in 7-tail Kyubi form, etc.) So to justify myself, I claim that Sasuke's wound to his back was so large (and just awful) that by her putting chakra into his chest (which is the center of all chakra, where the soul is said to reside) Sakura can heal Sasuke faster, which is what she was aiming for. Also the final jutsu she performed on him (the giant _flash _of chakra that simultaneously healed Sasuke and released his seal) was a kind of massive chakra transfer that requires the user to take on the receiver's wounds as payment for giving them the gift of life and power as well. I made it up because it was dramatic and handy! XD **

**Well, thanks to all for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for not updating for a few days. I spent the weekend at a con! It's con season! I'll be gone for the next few weekends, but I should be updating every couple of days.**

**Origins of the New Uchiha**

**Chapter 5.**

**In the past, in the Land of Sky. **

Sakura had become increasingly frustrating over the past several weeks in the Land of Sky. She refused to sleep, refused to be put in the village's hospital, and refused to stop working. She would not sleep because she claimed that it would impede her ability to help the Sky Village's elders in assembling the new government. She would not be put in the hospital because she claimed she needed no healing, and she would not stop working because she was devoted wholly to the rebuilding of the Land of Sky.

Through out of all these things, Sasuke admitted to himself that it was the _reason_ she was working so hard that angered him the most. She was doing it for Naruto. She was doing it because she was now acting as the ambassador of the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf, and she would do nothing but serve her Hokage. Her Naruto.

For weeks, she had refused extensive treatment in the hospital. The only time she spent in the hospital was not for her own desperately needed healing but so she could heal others. And Sasuke couldn't stand it.

He couldn't stand how despite it all, he had to follow her orders as well. His duties were simplistic and minimal, restricted to mostly escorting her and acting as her bodyguard, but every time he attempted to speak with her, even in private, she reminded him who they were and how they should be behaving with a swift chakra-filled jab to the chest, which would drive the breath from him.

"You are to say _nothing_ to me, _Taka,_" she would hiss under her mask. Then straitening herself she would continue on with her day, ignoring him though he was always at her side.

On the second week of their stay at the Land of Sky, a messenger hawk arrived specified for Hana of the Hidden Leaf. Sasuke recognized the hawk as a personal favorite of Naruto's, and he gritted his teeth in rage when Sakura hastily rose to read her incrypted message. Sasuke could not be expected to be privy to information sent strait from the Hokage to the mission leader, but from Sakura's pleased countenance, he could tell that perhaps Naruto had slipped in some personal tidbits, which made the pretty ANBU leader chuckle under her mask. Sasuke could not have been more loathing. Even miles away, Naruto still held presedence in Sakura's heart, and though Sasuke was always by her side, she would never look at him.

"Miss Hana, Miss Hana!"

There were many children in the village, little tan things in robes that dragged on the ground under their skidding feet. The children loved Sakura or "Miss Hana," as they called her. They often pulled down Sakura's hood and ran fingers through her long hair. Even now as Sakura looked away from the letter from Naruto and knelt before them, they touched her mask and hair as if she were a goddess from another world. They called her "Kire Hana" as well. Pretty Hana...

Sasuke felt envy toward them as Sakura's unbridled laughter would escape out of her mask as she played with the children, using her quick hands to perform little tricks that would send the babes into cries of laughter and surprise. When their parents finally called them to "stop bothering the ninja lady," Sasuke would rejoice at their departure. He didn't like children.

"What?" Sakura snapped, angry once again. She had a horrible habit of catching his bad moods.

Sasuke said nothing for a few moments, refusing to address the recently present children. "What did Naruto say?"

Her response was expected. "That's none of your business."

"Only short with me, of course," he murmured under his breath.

"You think because I'm taciturn with you, I am with everyone else?" She smirked. "I love children. And this village is thriving once more. Soon the mission will be over, and we will return to our own village. In fact, we have been given leave to return to the Hidden Leaf as soon as the elections for a new leader are completed."

Sasuke found no joy in the laughter in her voice nor in the fact that she was even speaking to him. He knew her improved mood only came with something Naruto had said in the note, and that put him in an even more foul mood than he had been previously.

"I have a job for you, Taka," Sakura said, breaking Sasuke from his uneasy thoughts.

He turned his attention toward her but continued to say nothing, stifling his anger under a mask of collected composure.

"On the day of the election, I have an informant who is to meet with you near the outskirts of the village. When you are done with all of your duties for the election, you will meet this informant and receive further instructions there."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the oddness of the order, though he knew she couldn't see the gesture. "Is this orders from Naruto?"

"Do you have any right to question where my orders come from?" The angry mood returned.

He lowered his head and schooled himself into submission rather than lash out in anger at the woman he had grown to admire and respect. "I'll do it."

"Good."

The election day was bright and festive, red banners and tassels streaming through the powerful winded air as the citizens of the newly reborn Land of Sky dressed in their finest robes, dashes of golds and blues mixing in well with the normally subdued color pallate. The lights of the city, which had beenn turned off as a sign of mourning for those who had died in service to their country, were turned on and blazed brilliantly along with the sun. Sasuke, despite the cheerful atmosphere, did not find too much joy in the proceedings. The happy citizens that lined up in drones to vote for their new village leader were a mere nuisance to the powerful Hidden Leaf ninja. He was to oversee the poll booths by Hana's (for that's how he referred to Sakura when she was inclined to give orders) command. Any attempt to somehow rig or disrupt the voting process would be immediately silenced by the irate Sasuke Uchiha, who was in no mood to play games and held a nasty experession thundering with anger under his mask.

The elections wore on all day and into the night until finally the last person at Sasuke's station cast their ballot, and the poles were closed. The Land of Sky was heavily efficient in their ability to tally the votes as quickly as possible (another task which Sasuke supervised) and within four hours, the Land of Sky had its new leader, the honerable Hiro Kazehito, whom Sasuke had become acquainted with on the first day of his and Hana's arrival. Hiro had apparently won by a landslide, so no contest was made against him, and a grand festival that was spanned the entire village was to be held in his honor.

Sasuke passed the lines of happily situated villagers and squeezed in between the masses of the crowds, nodding to those who bowed in respect at the sight of his mask and Leaf Headband. If the village had been happy during the day, they were estatic at night. The rainbow of colors mixing with the purples and blues of the new night air would not have been lost even on Sasuke, despite his foul mood, had it not been for the orders from Hana, requiring him to meet with some kind of informant. More than likely carrying another message from Naruto, Sasuke thought with enough rage to make even his chakra a shade darker. The villagers, though they could not see his face, could sense well enough he was no man to be contended with, and they slowly backed away from him on their own accord.

Sasuke soon left the smothering crowds and ventured on alone to streets uninhabited, enjoying the silence and stillness of the air. These were streets with no vendors, only houses which were empty, since all had gone to the festivities. He made a few turns, heading toward the outskirts of the city, to the point specified by Hana.

He spotted the informant from over a hundred meters away, clothed in a light blue cloak and hood. The informant was turned from him, though even with his back to him he could tell that this person, either man or woman, was much smaller in stature than himself. He approached as silent as death and probably just as angry, not at all looking forward to being some kind of messenger-boy to Sakura's long lost love's unintentional flirt with his "best friend."

At fifty meters, the informant turned toward him, and Sasuke perceived a pair of electric green eyes and a smirking pink mouth from under the blue hood. A swift gust of the ever-present wind blew the hood from her face and with it, long locks of pink hair billowed from under the cloak and scattered across the air. Sakura took a step forward, her cloak splitting some in the middle to reveal a low cut and short blue dress that clung to her hips. She was truly a vision born from the bluest days of the sky, with sunset pink hair to compliment.

"That's the most surprise I've ever seen on you," she said with a wicked grin when he was close enough to hear her.

"I," he said with the same fastidious with which he did everything, "was requested to meet here. For further orders."

Her smile widened. "I have those for you. You are to enjoy the festival with one Sakura Haruno and then when you return to your quarters, you may prepare to leave for the Hidden Leaf in the morning."

At this he merely stared at her through his mask. She was beautiful, especially in the light of the moon. The sight reminded him of the time she'd spent laying across his bedsheets, covered in only that glistening light and his own body. Since that time she had perhaps grown stronger. The parts of her body that had been soft and undeveloped were well-muscled and toned. She had been active in missions the past few months, putting her life on the line for Naruto's village, protecting Naruto's plan for the world, becoming Naruto's right hand in his dream to bring peace to all villages. But she was here now, not under any orders other than her own.

"Here," she said, taking a step forward. "I know you're a visual learner, so I'll illustrate for you." And with fingers slightly marred with calouses from handling weapons, she pulled up his mask, smiling as his eyes met hers. "I've lost many friends lately. You see, when you're on missions as much as I am, even childhood friends get on with their lives, and the things they like are not the things I like any longer. I'll be honest: I'd like you to be my friend again. We were once friends, right? I was obnoxious as a child, but now I don't have anyone to talk to."There was a brief pause and she lowered her eyes from his for a moment. "You saved my life."

"And you saved mine."

"So we're even," she agreed, her expression changing to the wry smirk again. "I remember very well how many times I invited you out and how many times you rejected me. If you have no intention of enjoying the festival, say so. I won't prod you like I did before."

Sasuke somehow could not bring himself to speak. He could think of everything and nothing to say all at the same time, so in the end nothing came out. Sakura's smile dropped at length and she rolled her eyes. "Very well." Turning to go, she shook her head but stopped abruptly.

Sasuke had no knowledge that his own hand had shot out to grab her wrist, but there it was, situated very firmly on her soft, cold skin. She was chilly more than likely from the harsh wind that her cloak did little to shelter. Surely that was the reason that a long shiver went up her arm, sending tremors into him as well.

"I'll go," he said. It was the first time he'd ever accepted her request.

Sakura smiled, and that look seemed to be just for him. Perhaps she was marvelling in the fact she'd finally gotten him to go out with her, though that he realized was his wishful thinking. The time had passed when she'd been willing to follow him around like a puppy.

She took his hand in hers, an action which had his heart fluttering, and unceremoniously placed his mask back in his hand. "You'll have to hide that somewhere. Can't let everyone know it's us, right?"

He swallowed and tucked the mask behind his weapons' pouch hanging from his hip, which hid most of the black and white markings. He found himself sorry to let it go because that meant he couldn't watch her with abandon like he'd been doing the past few days. He would be forced to look away from her for the night, which was torturous considering how sensuous she looked, wrapped in blue. He thought that she had looked beautiful in red the night they'd been together after the wedding, but nothing compared to the soft silk of Sakura in the light blue cloak and deep blue dress. She looked electric and appetizing, her hair curling with the ever-present wind.

They walked back towards the inner streets of the city, merging with the crowds. Training as ninjas granted them the ability to be practically invisible despite the myriads of people, and no one realized it was the two ANBU from the Hidden Leaf. Sasuke didn't often participare in events with crowds, disliking even after his return to his home town the feeling of being close to others, but with Sakura beside him he found himself unable to pay attention to much else. He had to concentrate on not staring at her, which made conversing sometimes difficult, but she didn't seem to mind the silence he exuded. She bought dango, giving him a stick with a grin and telling him something about how comical it was to watch him chew on brightly-colored balls. She then proceeded to laugh so loudly that the stand owner stared at her with wide eyes.

Sasuke couldn't help but somewhat play along, intentionally wrapping his lips around the dango with emphasized eroticism but still maintaining a painfully strait face, which had Sakura crying with mirth and shaking in her laughter.

The end of the night arrived with the dawn of the morning. They did not kiss, they did not touch, not once the whole night. But Sasuke would later count it as the beginning of everything: their friendship, their love, their marriage, their family. The night of the inauguration festival for the Land of Sky would mark the beginnings of the New Uchiha.

**To the present, in the forests on the outskirts of the Land of Fire territory.**

The strands of pink hair began to thin as Sasuke began to near the Land of Rain. He slowed his pace considerably to make sure he was on the right path. Any number of things could have happened to Sakura within the time she spent incarcerated on her journey to imprisonment that could have prevented her from dropping the hairs, but Sasuke did not want to think of that currently. Nearing the Land of Rain most made it worse because that was where things had intesified between them. The year from that first mission in the Land of Sky to the day of their marriage passed like a blur for Sasuke, though he could vividly recount every detail of his long courtship of Sakura. It had first started with missions. He and Sakura would be paired as Hana and Taka, taking on dangerous assignment one after the other and somehow surviving, starting out as commander and subordinate and then maturing to fellow and equal comrades. They became the best task force in the Hidden Leaf, each of their missions a success.

On their time off, the days or weeks in between missions, Sasuke would spend time at the hospital, visiting Sakura, who always seemed to find time to work under her Master, Lady Tsunade. They talked sometimes, but others they would spend in a deep and companionable silence that Sasuke himself occasionally had to break or they would never talk at all. And Sasuke wanted talking because he found himself uncommonly drunk off the sound of Sakura's voice. She no longer whined as she did as a child. She had a sarcastic, intelligent way of speaking that would be peppered with bits of untainted kindness, like an exotic spice in an already tempting entree. There would be times when the words from Sakura's mouth would prevent Sasuke from careening into despair or a deep rage.

Sasuke also found Sakura to have a prethera of knowledge, as she seemed to be experienced in anything and everything from flowers to weapons, which was handy whenever he needed something and provided another excuse for seeing her. Before he knew it, they were spending every day in each other's company, but not kissing, not touching. That didn't come until the mission to the Land of Rain...

An energy source spiked in front of him, the chakra signature of a single being. Sasuke made for it, intending to kill.

**Chapter 5 end.**

**Well, I'll say this. The next chapter will be... steamy XD as we move from the Land of Sky to the Land of Rain! Yaay! Thanks again for reading.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well here we are, chapter 6. Do enjoy. Apologies for the wait.**

**Origins of the New Uchiha**

**Chapter 6**

**In the past again, the Land of Rain.**

The terrential downpour was nothing to two full-fledged, experienced ANBU black ops. The flooding pathways, though difficult to navigate, were managed, and the occasional fallen tree was over stepped without delay. It was when the downpour turned to a typhoon that the ninja looked toward each other and finally made for shelter. They ran with the speed and efficiency of trained killers, searching the passing trees for some sort of shelter.

"Do you see anything?" the female of the team asked, having to roar above the rain to her companion, who was scanning the flooding forest with eyes more keen than she would ever have.

"Northwest," he responded at length. "There's an abandoned outpost, or something like it. I read no chakra, but it's shelter."

She nodded and continued in the direction he'd suggested, landing on stable feet before a small humble structure, worn into a low hobble more than likely by the continuing pounding rain. She entered the structure first, keeping the wooden door open for her partner, who quickly surveyed the area to ensure they weren't followed.

Inside, Sakura, who removed her mask as soon as she was sure that Sasuke saw no enemies outside, set about and made a small fire in the center of the hobble. The structure was completely bare on the inside except for a left-behind tatami mat on the dirt floor. The inhabitants of the place must have moved long ago, leaving it behind to be slowly taken down by the elements. Sakura judged it to have been left alone for no more than a few years, the water damage on the inside minimal save for a few leaks in the ceiling, which did not effect much. Sakura made it do fine and layed out the sleeping bags close to the fire, warming them so when they eventually did sleep, they would be warm. As Sasuke stepped in from the cold rain, she grinned.

"I suppose this is why they call it the Land of Rain," she said, wringing drips of water out of her long hair.

He smirked and proceeded to remove his mask as well, taking the towel Sakura offered him and drying himself by the fire. Their ability to work together had developed into a flawless and often wordless coalition of movements that increased their productivity tenfold. They never wasted time.

"Shall I make tea?" she asked, a slight shiver in her voice.

He nodded and reached into his russack, producing a heavy blanket from its depths. While she hovered with her kettle over the fire, he placed it around her shoulders without a word and was grateful when she accepted it in the same manner, though he noted with a shot of unbridled satisfaction how a smile pulled at the side of her mouth.

"You should take off your vest, put it near the fire," she said softly, still not looking up at him. "Here." She took off her white ANBU vest as if showing him how to do it, leaving her in a mere blank tank top that cut off at the shoulders and clung to line of her collar bone. He took the vest from her and removed his own, placing both near the fire to get warm.

There was a long, companionable silence that stretched for more than an hour, which was not unusual for them. Sasuke set about to pouring over maps, which he was wont to do in a situation where there was no other way of being useful. Sakura wordlessly served him tea and sat by the fire, her legs crossed. Occasionally Sasuke felt her chakra mull around inside her, and he was aware abruptly that she was doing calming exercises.

"What's wrong?" he asked finally. "A technique like that is usually reserved for busier missions."

She cracked an eye at his questions. "I've been unusually stressed lately."

It was a short answer that was punctuated with another flare of chakra that was tampered down just as quickly as it shot up, as if Sakura was attempting to cloak uneasy feelings from him. But they had been partnered together too long for Sasuke not to be concerned.

"Stressed," Sasuke repeated slowly. A prodding, for him.

"Stressed."

He took a short, quiet breath and thought for a while. Sakura was not overly taciturn like Sasuke. She could talk well enough for the both of them at times, which Sasuke enjoyed because he liked to hear what she had to say. None of it was meaningless. Sakura rarely did anything that didn't have some form of purpose, so he assumed that maybe everything could be getting to her, stressing her to the max where even easy missions produced stress. He'd seen her do calming techniques on missions that were high-risk, missions they might not come back from. Through all of them, she'd kept a level head, even where Sasuke sometimes got lost in the blood lust. She'd helped him with her calmness and kindness to heal from his past mistakes and the vices of others. Sasuke, with Sakura's help, had forgiven the village elders for their decision reguarding his family, he had forgiven Itachi for killing his parents, and he had forgiven himself for betraying Itachi's will for his life along with the village. Sasuke could attribute the peace he felt inside his own soul to Sakura's patient and kind nature. It'd been a process that had occured over the expanse of the past year.

Therefore if she was somehow tormented, he'd move mountains to assist her.

"Naruto informed me yesterday, when we received this assignment," she said, breaking his thoughts, "that Hinata was going to have their first child in a few months."

He saw her throat bob with emotion and felt a pang inside himself. Even now, she still felt something for Naruto.

"He told me as well," Sasuke replied slowly.

"I wonder if it will have his eyes," she whispered. "Or hers maybe? If it will be a boy... Naruto said he wanted a girl with Hinata's pretty hair, but Hinata wants a boy with _his _hair. His hair and his mannerisms, I'm sure. That child will run about with enough energy, even for Naruto, or it will be shy and delicate like Hinata."

The loss and mourning in her voice was apparent.

She turned to him as if the action would shake off her despair. "I'm sure you would want a son."

He was surprised by the statement, and even perpelxed by it. But he was so willing to focus her attention from Naruto having children to _Sasuke _having children that he mustered a response. "I want the Uchiha to continue, yes," he expressed, taking the conversation very seriously, "but... having a girl..."

A girl with Sakura's eyes and hair...

"Would you want a girl?" he asked.

At this she burst into laughter. "A girl? A boy? Both are out of my reach, I assure you. For what children can be had when I'm doomed to walk this world alone...?"

He stiffened. "I don't see a reason for you to be alone all your life. There are many in the village who love you."

"Oh, yes, plenty. But I'm afraid if I love them back, they'll be forced out of my grasp. That's what seems to happen to me. And the more I tighten my grip, the more they just..." She held up a hand and made a motion of the wind taking something from her grasp. "Slip through my fingers..."

The storm roared outside as they fell once again into an inky silence, and Sakura resumed her meditation near the fire while Sasuke brooded slightly in his corner. He had a habit of brooding that had lessened slightly in his time with Sakura, but old habits die hard.

She must have sensed this because soon she opened her eyes. "At home, I'd imagine it'd be sunny."

He raised his head. "I think so."

"It'll be summer soon. They'll have the firework festivals again, I think. We should go together. I haven't eaten a dango in a long time, and I've been wanting one. Do you remember when we had a few in the Land of Sky? We should apply for a leave of absence during the season, take a break maybe."

His eyes met hers, and he found her smiling.

"I love going places with you," she continued, her smile widening. Her hair and face were still wet, dripping slightly. The flickering light of the fire cast shadows over the curves of her damp body, and her eyes glistened with happiness as she looked at him.

Something hit him like a mallet in the back of his skull, so hard that he felt as if he should recoil physically from such an emotional shock. It burst out of his chest and consumed his whole body in fire so fast that he couldn't think and couldn't put the feeling into words. Whatever it was, it was wonderful.

His expression must have changed drastically, because Sakura's did. She held a mask of shock, staring at him. "What is it?" She asked quickly, getting up to sit beside him. "Sasuke, you're... you're smiling!"

The feeling bubbled in his chest, like molten lava, errupting from him like a volcano. It came out of his mouth in peals of laughter, and his voice he could not recognize as he laughed and laughed at the sudden realization that had taken over his body completely.

He loved her.

Before he had acknowledged an infatuation, an attraction he could not help, but it was tempered and ignored, but whatever this was could not be suppressed. This feeling of pure love for another person he had not felt since his parents had been alive consumed him whole, as if it had been building up inside him all along.

"Sasuke, what is it?" Sakura asked, grabbing him by his shirt. Tears of merriment were pouring from his eyes, and it was only after a few moments that he finally calmed, shaking a little but calm enough. He opened his eyes and looked at her. Just looked at her. She jumped back slightly, and he wondered what sort of expression he was making to surprise her so much. He only knew he was unabashedly in love with the woman, and if half of what he was feeling could be read on his face, then she was getting quite an eyeful.

"Sasuke," Sakura said shakily, "what is it? Are you alright?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. I just realized something."

She couldn't take the suspense. "For God's sake what?"

He smiled. His mouth felt strangely good, though he was inexperienced in smiling. "I realized that I don't care about if I have a child, whether it's a boy or a girl. I just want it to be kind..." He put a hand on her face, his fingers meeting the delicate skin in between her jaw and her neck. "And have green eyes."

Sakura's green eyes widened by a mile, and she unconsciously withdrew, but he held her close, his face nearing hers.

"Green eyes," he whispered in her ear before his lips found hers.

The feeling that shook him compounded the moment their lips met, but he did not seek to rush things. He loved every second she was touching him, even if she was surprised, even if she wanted to push him away. Which he was surprised that she did not. He took it as an invitation for more and brought her face closer to his with his hands around her waist, craning his neck to get a better taste. She smelt of tea and flowers and metal and lethar, odd combinations that were the result of someone so sweet entrenching herself in a world where she must kill others. He found himself drunk off it, drunk off her, and he couldn't help but pull her even closer.

His hands rushed across her body, exploring her, feeling the lush curves of her hips and thighs coupled with the firmness of her muscled arms and chest. During the exploration, however, their lips never left each other. Sasuke stopped his perusing of her body to simply enjoy her mouth, licking, sucking, biting her lips and her jaw in a fevered rush to draw out her soul. It was her soul he loved, her passionate will power, her unending kindness, her intelligence. He thought maybe if he could draw it out of her mouth and consume it, he might feel like a whole man. So he devoured her, seeking to draw her out further by slipping a cunning tongue in and out of her lips, teasing, tasting. He felt a low rumble move throughout her chest and stomach, and he registered it as a small moan, which he echoed with his own. It wasn't long before her tongue was dancing with his as they fell backwards, landing with him on top of her, but neither of them seemed to notice. Like tiny flower petals dancing in the wind, he felt her hands roll up his stomach and feel him as much as he was feeling her. Her clever fingers skimmed his chest, rolling up and down the muscles in his abdomen and arms and finally latched on to his back.

He lifted one of her muscled legs under his forearm, angling both their bodies so they were completely open to one another, he open to her tender hands and she open to his demanding kiss, which seemed to stretch on forever. He never wanted it to end. The thudding in his heart and hands and body only escalated as the pleasure increased, with her soft moans echoing in his ears.

"Sa-Sasuke," she gasped, and he loved the sound of his name coming out of her panting mouth, which he covered with his own and consumed greedily. The sound of _his _name and not Naruto's made him wild with abandon, stretching Sakura out and moving his hands up her stomach and into her shirt. Her soft but hot skin made him groan slightly as he felt his way up, sampling her still with his mouth and drawing forth little moans with his tongue.

Her body was something that the first time they held each other he had no time or the mind-frame to enjoy. They'd both been drunk, she especially, but now he knew they were sober and well aware of their actions, _he_ expecially. The fact that he loved her was still mind-boggling, but he didn't care. He only concentrated on the soft, pale skin that was revealed as he slowly, slowly pulled her shirt up.

She abruptly stopped, stiffened, and put a hand over his. Their lips disconnected, and their eyes met as they panted for breath, still touching everywhere else, save their faces. "What?" he asked, trying to lower his lips again, but she pulled away.

"What are we doing?"

He huffed indignantly. "I thought that was obvious."

"You... You don't know what this means!" she hissed, trying to pull away, but he would not allow it.

He instead scrambled up to her mouth again and claimed it, drawing her tongue back into his mouth and pulling insistently. For a moment, he felt her lose herself, her hands clenched around his body, while his hands continued up her shirt felt her firm breasts, touching the fabric of her clothing at the same time. She gasped and moaned and pulled him harder to her, which shifted their positions and afforded him a wave of sensation so hot and needy that he felt himself lightly moaning into it, enraptured with her body. The same hand that had teased her warm flesh snaked downward to her stomach, lower, lower...

"Stop!" she gasped, shoving him away so he lay at an arm's length from her.

He groaned angrily, longing to have her in his arms again. "For God's sake, Sakura, what?"

"You don't get what's happening!"

That thought in itself was preposterous. Of course, he knew what was happening. He wanted it more than he wanted to breathe or to live. He'd never felt so right in his entire life, and he finally was able to put his long time need to rest. His expression must have been enough of an answer for Sakura, because she didn't prod him any longer. She did however push him farther away, much to his disdain.

"No, you don't get it, Sasuke," she said. "I love Naruto. No, I.. I did love Naruto. Very deeply. The night that you and I..." She faltered for a moment. Her mind seemed to be in a tumult, veering from left to right. "_That night_, I didn't want you. I wanted him, but you forced me to know it was _you_. Do... Do you remember?"

Sasuke could recall vividly. He'd been enraged at her gasping, panting mouth whispering Naruto's name as she hit her zenith, and he had forced her to acknowledge that she was with _him_ and no one else. Even now, Sasuke felt the strong desire to make Sakura forget about Naruto. To her question, he nodded.

"When I woke up the next morning, to find you next to me, you don't know how I felt. It was... the worst mix of emotions I've ever had. I loved Naruto, but with you... I didn't know if it was just a habit! If falling back to loving you was just my default way of dealing with losing Naruto. So I left. And I lived in fear of you! I avoided you like the plague. And when we were put on our first mission together, I knew it was you instantly. And I tried hard to forget it was you, to put the mission first. And every mission since, I've had to work.. hard..."

She closed her eyes as if in pain, and in response he unconsciously moved a hand up to her face, stroking her cheek. She flinched at the touch.

"You don't understand, Sasuke! I love Naruto! He's the one I want!"

He shook his head, drawing her closer. "You're lying."

"I'm not!" she cried. "I... I know I love him! I love him!"

He acted quickly, using superior speed to his advantage and slamming her down on her back while he hovered above her. "_Stop lying_," he hissed into her ear.

She gasped and closed her eyes tightly shut, as if she could close the door to his voice by not seeing him. "You don't know how hard this is," she whispered. "What if-What if I'm in love with you again? This isn't fucking around for me!"

He pulled in a sharp breath and clasped his arms around her in a vice-like grip, which she struggled desperately against. She punched him, hard, in the shoulders and back, squirming against him, but he did not relent. "You think I was joking, Sakura?" he growled in between her strikes, which he knew would leave bruises. "I was serious about this! You don't know how it was for me, waking up without you that first night!"

She stopped moving.

"It was agony! And now I finally have you, and I won't let you leave again! If you try to run, I'll hunt you down and capture you! I want you to be with me! I want _you _to be the origins of the New Uchiha! I want children with your kindness and eyes. I want _you _to teach them how to live, like how you taught me!" He pushed rough hands to her face and forced her to meet him in the eye. She was crying, a sight he hadn't seen in years. He lowered his voice and made it more gentler as he rubbed fingers over her cheeks and smoothed her tears. "I don't want to be without you again. I want to wake up next to you tomorrow, and the next day, and the rest of the days of my life until I die."

"H-How," she whispered, "How can you be sure? You never... cared about me before..."

He kissed her lips gently, closing his eyes as he did so to savor her. "You're my best friend. You're my teammate, and at one time, you were a damn good captain." He smiled as she lowered her head in embarassment. "I want-"

But she didn't give him the time to express what he wanted. She leaped on him, crashing her lips back into his and flinging her arms about his shoulders. He didn't need time to respond, locking her body back in its former position under his and crushing her with all the emotions storming around in her heart. She opened her eyes while they were mere centimeters apart, and he saw the expression of pure, unmitigated lust in her eyes that used to be exclusively for Naruto, but now the intensity seemed to be multiplied tenfold, staring at him. In the face of such unabashed longing, Sasuke felt as if he might expire on the spot. She grasped him and quickly began removing his still wet ANBU tank top, pulling it over his head with a soft groan and claiming his mouth again in a mind-blowing kiss. Her hands ran over the muscles in his back, venturing back down farther to the material of his pants. Her clever fingers skimmed the surface of the conspicuous bulge in the fabric which made him groan in ecstacy. He couldn't help but retaliate with his own hands boldly rubbing over Sakura's lithe body, concentrating especially on the soft surfaces of her perked breasts. She arched and moaned into his embrace, which he took as an invitation and even a beckoning for him to remove her tank top. He did it slowly, every inch of revealed skin kissed sensuously. He paused especially on a light scar marring the skin over her abdomen, a scar that she'd received at the hands of Tohru the traitor, who'd somehow been Shin Namura in disguise. He drew a tongue over the damaged skin, licking it as if he could heal the mark with sheer ferocity of adoration. She gasped and latched onto his head with her fingers, willing him farther up her body, wanting more.

He obliged willingly, drawing his mouth up her stomach to her heaving chest, recently relieved of her shirt. Her pale smooth skin glistened slightly in the sweat of their activities as well as the rain from the outside. Her hips were narrow, sloping elegantly upwards and met by the curves of her supple breasts, which were also pure white and punctuated with pink, taught nipples. He dragged his eyes up and down her frame, feeling the lust in his body grow with each passing second until he could hold his composure no longer, lowering his mouth to her chest and pulling at the delicate flesh eagerly. He felt her shudder beneath him, moans and mewls escaping her quivering mouth as her hands dug into his hair, mussing it about in her fevor.

He wanted desperately to take his time, though she seemed impatient, pulling constantly at the hem of his pants with needy fingers. His longing to enjoy her body overpowered his need to possess her for the time being, and though he allowed her to unbuckle the clasp in his pants, he did not let her remove them completely. He wanted to taste her, to get to know the curves he'd been watching for so long. But she was clever as she was wicked. While distracting him with the motions of her breasts and torso (for she when she rolled her hips, her entire body would shudder and move with such sensuality he could not tear his gaze away) she was carefully unclasping his pants, moving her hands inside them before he could comprehend what was happening. And when he did, a rush of violent heat spread to the lower half of his body so wonderfully that he didn't mind. His mouth hung open in mindless ecstacy as she massaged him gently, pulsing strokes moving up and down him in a tantalizing dance of erotic pleasure.

"Come on," she whispered as she lapped slowly at his taught chest and abs. A wave of nostalgia hit Sasuke, and he grinned as she knew what she was doing. "Make. Your. Move."

This time, he did not lose himself. He did pull off her black cargo pants, throwing them across the room as she laughed up at him. He did continue to smother her with his mouth and hands, mulling his own fingers around in her long hair that pooled around over their heads in a tangled mess. He did lower himself to her legs, licking the remaining rain water off the curves in her thighs and hips. And finally, he did make his move, bringing himself into her slowly, savoring the sensation of being surrounded by such warmth. Sakura's eyes widened each inch, and it was more than once that she had to slow him.

"This," he panted while running his mouth up and down hers, "wasn't so hard the first time."

Sakura lolled her head back and stretched herself out, taking a deep breath. "You didn't, ah, have to feel it last time, did you? Hurt like hell... God, Sasuke, _move_."

He obliged slowly at first, but Sakura literally grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to move into her. He groaned and threw his head back, allowing himself to be completely surrounded by the feeling of being one with her, of becoming a beast with her. He threw all inhibitions to the wind and concentrated only on being in tune with her, looking at her body in the light of the fire. So damn beautiful and all his. He knew that Naruto was no where near her thoughts now. She only was thinking of him.

Their pace quickened, she pushing him back with her legs over his shoulders to give him better access. Their eyes never left each other except when one or both would close them, moans escaping their lips as they drove into one another in time. The exploration, even with the demanding pace of their rocking, never stopped. Sasuke still ran his hands up and down her body, whispering unintelligile words strait into her ear. Leaning forwards slightly to gain balance, he began forcing himself harder into her, and her moans and mewls turned into harsh breaths borderlining screams of passion. "R-right there," she cried, clutching the tatami mat under her with claw-like fingers. "Oh, God, right _there_!"

He groaned and obeyed by quickening his pace further, his thoughts scattered and bewildered except for the pulsing pleasure running through his body. "Sa-ku-ra," he panted, clutching her arms as he felt his release fast approaching.

She flung open her mouth and let out another final scream as she hit hers first, rocking into him though he could tell she was tiring. But her ability to persevere amazed him as she reared up against him, pushing him down so that she was riding him, slowly bringing him to madness with the steady pace of her hips and thighs. From this position he had full view of her entire body, her arms that grasped at her body, face, and hair, her hips that rolled backwards and forwards over his pelvis, a sensation that made him grind his teeth and gasp in the agony of unbearable pleasure, her breasts that rose up and down along with her, and her eyes that shone like emeralds, glistening and looking into his soul. She craned her neck upwards on purpose, intentionally stretching her body out so he could get a better look as she rubbed her hands up and down her own hips, thighs and breasts in invitation.

"Sasuke," she whispered, "Sasuke, Sasuke," repeating it like a mantra, letting him know that she knew who she was fucking- no, who she was loving.

It was the final straw that sent him over the edge, onto a high that toppled their first experience together as nothing more than a drunked, clumsy fucking. Sakura was loving him with her body, and as he rode through the final waves of pleasure, he felt a sense of completion unlike anything he'd ever experienced. They finally collapsed on top of each other, Sasuke grasping Sakura to him, not letting her go for an instant. The kissing never stopped, not once since they had begun and not even when they finished. Throughout the night, they came together several times, but never stopped kissing, whispering sweet-nothings, becoming one whole person.

Far into the night and way past the end of the storm, they were still kissing. Sasuke could never recall falling asleep. He only remembered the feeling of her soft mouth and only wanted more.

**CHAPTER 6 END.**

**As you may have guessed, this entire chapter was in flashback, no present stuff here. That's next. A lovely scene though, if I do say so myself. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Apologies for the long wait. Computer trouble. Please find forgiveness for me by reading this chapter.**

**Origins of the New Uchiha**

**Chapter 7**

**The past traces back to the present in a long, winding road.**

They had, naturally, been very quiet about their relationship, acting much the same to the extent that no one suspected. They silently agreed to this because of their mutual desire to go on missions together, which they also agreed were to have no more love-making. (The following morning after the first time, the two had been so exhausted and inclined to lie with each other that the mission almost failed, despite its simplicity.) They simply couldn't bear to be parted from each other during those first few months of their marriage.

For indeed, when they returned to the Hidden Leaf, they exchanged rings, made vows filled with chakra and their own souls, and had performed their own ceremony with only each other in attendence. So though legally they would not be married for another half year, they each counted the beginning of their marriage from when they returned from the mission to the Land of Rain.

Despite that, Sakura remained excessively busy when she returned to the village, working at the hospital as one of the best medical ninja in the country, but Sasuke would visit her as much as they were allowed to see each other. Being _together_ was not difficult, since at night they had either appartment they could visit, being his or hers. What was difficult was managing the urge to never leave the appartments or to find a random room and make a mess of each other for hours on end, an occurence that did happen at the hospital in the late nights.

However, they both realized that keeping their relationship such a secret was unfair to their friends, especially Naruto, who could sense that something was happening but had no idea what. At length (great length, for Sasuke hated the idea of making something so close to his soul a public affair) Sakura convinced him that he would be the best one to tell Naruto.

They took him to a barbeque diner, a small, local stop with dark, warm lighting and a comfortable atmosphere. Sakura left the table when one of her old friends, Ino, entered the shop, saying with her eyes that while she was gone, Sasuke should somehow tell Naruto.

Sasuke usually felt an ever-present fondness for Sakura, but at the request, he wanted to loathe her. Naruto's reaction was going to either be obnoxious, annoying, or an awful combination of both. He allowed Naruto to talk away, about how beautiful his first-born daughter was, how she looked like Hinata and had her eyes. He let him prattle on about the tasks of being Hokage and how boring it was, on and on and on. Sasuke responded normally, with grunts and minimal responses like "Hopefully your kid won't have your brains too," and the like. After a while, he shifted his eyes and found his gaze unconsciously gravitating toward Sakura, as it was wont to do even in public. She was leaning across the bar, the side of her body stretched out in front of him, as she smiled at something Ino had said. Her hair had grown, if possible, even longer, waving past her waist and dancing across her arms as she shifted. She'd sometimes tied it up in an ornate pony-tail held in place with chopsticks, but Sasuke preferred her natural, like how she was now, hair loose and flowing. The young Uchiha thought for a brief moment that he should cut this interlude with Naruto short and bring Sakura back to his place, where he could remove that ninja gear she was wearing one agonizing piece at a time...

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked, smiling blindingly.

Sasuke didn't turn his attention back to his blonde friend, but he did say very quietly, "I'm going to marry her."

Naruto blinked. "What?"

"Sakura. I'm going to marry her."

There was a brief pause. "WHAT?" Naruto shot to his feet.

Sakura's attention swiveled back in the men's direction at the sound, but Sasuke waved her off under the table. He then motioned for Naruto to calm himself and sit down, which the blonde did after some time.

"Are you crazy?" he whispered across the table, shooting glances at Sakura. "Listen, I know she liked you when we were kids, but I have to tell you something, buddy. She kind of... well, I think she hates you."

"Hated. Past tense," Sasuke clarified shortly. "That's no longer the case. We plan on marrying. I want her."

Naruto's eyes bulged into blue saucers. "Y-_you _want _her_?"

"Is it surprising?"

"Of course not! She's Sakura! She's gorgeous! But you... I mean, you never-"

"Then what's the problem?" Sasuke cut off. He was surprisingly enjoying Naruto's bewilderment.

"Well, I don't think she wants you..."

At this the dark-haired Uchiha let out a bark of laugh. "No, I think that's not the case."

"But she never-"

"Naruto, listen. Sakura and I have already promised to each other to be together. If you want proof, I'll take off my shirt and show you the _evidence_ of how much she wants me. But I don't think she'll like that. Anyway, the only reason I thought we should tell _you_ is because we need you to sanction the marriage. Make her a true Uchiha."

At the thought of Sakura bearing Sasuke's name, the young man felt a flutter of excitement in his heart. He would love it if Sakura wore clothes with the Uchiha crest on her back, a display to let the world know she was his...

"I," Naruto said, placing a hand over his head in bewilderment, "I can't believe it. You and her... I should have _seen _something. This just happened, right?"

"Over half a year," Sasuke corrected.

"Half a year?" Naruto screamed, standing to his feet once more.

Sasuke shot a glance over to Sakura, who could be in no doubt about what they were speaking any longer. She lowered her head with a laughing grin and held a hand over her mouth to hide it. In the next second though she seemed remarkably pleased that he had done what she'd asked and told Naruto their secret. Even though the bar separated them by meters of distance, he could feel the heat she emitted from the other side of the room. Her eyes were shifting as she stared at him, from her normally intelligent and kind gaze into her vixen-like stare. He recognized it well and felt a pealing of excitement roll through his stomach.

"We're ninja, Naruto," he said distractedly, slowly turning his attention back to his friend. "We were... discreet."

"You were fucking ghosts!" Naruto declared loudly. "I never saw either of you unless you came back from missions, but even then you would barely talk with me! You both always seemed to be in a hurry to..." Naruto's mind seemed to be in high gear, working over time. "Probably to run home and fuck!"

Sasuke smiled unabashedly. "Probably."

The blonde Hokage fell back to his chair, seemingly exhausted. "I can't.. believe it..."

"Well, hurry up and get over it. I'm tired of waiting. You know that request I put in a few days ago to be moved back into the Uchiha section of the village? That was for this. I have work to do, rebuilding my clan. I'll need the house to do it. Sakura and I are tired of living apart."

It was at this point that Sakura returned, sitting next to Sasuke as if nothing had happened, though under the table she put a hand suggestively on Sasuke's thigh, dragging it up toward his pelvis. He shifted abruptly and swallowed. "Think about it," he said to Naruto shortly before he got up and left, dragging Sakura behind him. He couldn't even wait for them to get home, taking her in one of the secluded alleyways of the city and claiming her against the stone wall of a tall building. Running his hands up and down her back that night, he couldn't wait until she'd be clothed in the robes of an Uchiha. When she would be Sakura Uchiha.

**In the present, inside the mind of a young man, soon to be a father.**

Marriage, love, passionate wild sex, fights, silence, time, all of it Sasuke had to push from his mind as a spike in chakra before him allerted him to another's presence. He dived for the chakra, ready to kill and bathe in blood of those who dared to take his Sakura from him. But all at once, just as he was about to deal the killing blow, he saw the chakra flare to a light, emerald green that he knew all too well.

In a moment he dispelled his Sharingan and saw her with his own two eyes: Sakura, pregnant and bowed over in exhaustion, her face white as a sheet in fear and then abruptly shocked in surprise. "S-Sasuke?" she whispered.

He could hardly believe it himself, having to grasp ahold of her with his own hands to prove that she wasn't some sort of illusion. She hugged him back as hard as she could, crying softly while she sank in his arms to the forest floor.

"Sakura," he whispered into her hair. "How?"

"They un-underestimated a Hidden Leaf Ninja," she spat, and he noticed how cold her hands were and how violently she was shaking.

"Sakura, listen to me. Did they give you anything?"

"F-fucking left me alone in a room for fucking four hours! Only a child wouldn't be able to escape that! And they obviously didn't do their research! That cell gave way like f-fucking splinters. They didn't know I'm stronger than most ninja."

"Did they hurt you?"

She raised her head to look up at him, her eyes red and blood shot. She seemed to regain herself. "Y-yes, they gave me something. Over-dosed me on a sleeping agent, I think. Or else I- I wouldn't have such a hard time... f-figuring out if this is real or not. I n-need to get back to Lady Tsunade, or the baby..." Her eyes widened. "The baby! Sasuke, we have to-"

She stopped when Sasuke jerked his head away from her and toward the line of trees.

"I-I can't feel," she whispered. "Are they coming?"

He nodded. "How long have you been free?"

She shook her head. "No more than half hour. I couldn't move... had to wait to rebuild my chakra"

He wrapped an arm gently around her shoulders and led her to the base of a large tree, positioning her to where she was partially hidden in its roots. She was looking more and more pale by the second, and the fact she had escaped enemy ninja in her delicate condition was amazing to say the least. She must have been thinking the same thing, because she said slowly, "Of course I escaped. I'm an Uchiha. We're all amazing..."

He closed his eyes briefly, pained at what she'd had to endure because he couldn't protect her. He raised the cold fingers of one of her hands to his lips and kissed deeply. "Stay hidden. This will be over quickly. Do not move until I come for you."

She smiled weakly. "Since when do you have the authority to give me orders?"

He couldn't bring himself to smile back at her, but he did give her a quick squeeze before leaving her. He stood in the center of the clearing, waiting for them to arrive. He flared his chakra like a challenge, enticing them to come closer. He could feel them, their energies numbering almost to a dozen, which did not intimidate him. Sasuke had never felt so blackened by righteous rath more in his entire life, even when his parents were dead and he was merciless in his persuit of Itachi. He was ready for them, when they came down from the trees like black wraiths.

And before they could even mount anything of an attack, his chidori was activated, cracking and sizzling an icy white in as much rage as anticipation. His whole body was enveloped in the light as he moved flawlessly, killing two ninja with blows to the neck in one swoop. He spun and alighted, faster than he could think, only acting on pure instinct, and another fierce bolt of light pierced another ninja. The man screamed in agonizing pain as Sasuke cut upward from his stomach to his throat. With a gurgle, he fell into the air and back to the hard ground, half his body falling one way, the other dipping the opposite way.

Sasuke was no longer a man. He was a shadow, a god of war. The ninja before him had eyes filled with fear and then with death as he slaughtered them, bathing in the blood of those who would dare attempt to harm his precious family.

He stood now in a graveyard of bloodied bodies, his eyes red and bleeding Mangekyo. The last ninja's presence behind him made Sasuke turn, and he perceived behind his red haze that this man was the leader ninja from before.

"Well, well, Sasuke," he growled, circling the Uchiha. "Your wife seems to have complicated things for me. Damn bitch who-"

But he didn't finish. Sasuke was on him faster than a lightning strike, the chidori blade impaling the man through his chest. He gasped and gulped, clutching his chest while blood bubbled to his mouth and spilled on Sasuke's sword.

"You don't say a _fucking word _about her," Sasuke hissed, pushing the sword slowly through the man to its hilt, knowing the lightning infused in the blade made every inch an experience of agony. With angry, quick hands, Sasuke removed the leader's mask, the blue light of the lightning blade crackling over a scarred and old face. But Sasuke recognized it well, his eyes widening.

"Tohru."

His hair had dimmed from a fine and long brown into a stringy gray matt on top of his head, and wrinkles formed prominent crevices in his once youthful face. Sasuke could not imagine what had brought on such a change, but he was sure that Tohru had been the same age as Sasuke, though now he looked like an old and decrepit man. His eyes were full of cackling rage, borderlining insanity, though Sasuke was sure not to underestimate him. This was the man who had infiltrated the security of the Hidden Leaf not once but twice.

"Tohru indeed!" Shin Namura, the old betrayer of both Sasuke and Sakura, spat enraged. "I'll kill you both! I swear I will!"

Sasuke could feel the rage boil inside him. This _leech_ had dared to survive that fateful night! After injuring both him and Sakura, after betraying the Leaf, after Sakura had plainly dispatched him, the man had the audacity to survive!

"I'll ask this once," Sasuke hissed. "Why did you come back?" In emphasis, he twisted the blade cruelly, causing Shin to cry out in cursing, pitiful pain.

But Shin turned his cry of pain into ridicoulous laughter, coughing up a mouthful of blood on Sasuke's blade. "You two certainly are cute. Look how close you are now. My old captain and her bitch getting hitched! Even fairytales can't come up with a pair like you two!"

The dark-haired Uchiha didn't see the reply to be fit enough to deserve a response, so he waited, enjoying the feeling of his blade tasting Shin's flesh.

Shin began to gasp and pant, more blood flowing from the wound in his chest. "You're all I've thought about these long years, Uchiha. I wanted to kill you and Hana for so long. You two made it easy. I didn't even have to look past the same block to find you! But the baby. Oh, that was just an added bonus. How fragile little Hana was when we took her. And I'm sure she won't survive the kind of torture we put her through. You think she escaped on her own? I _told you_ that you'd be able to find me. I've been waiting for this... Oh, I've been waiting so long!"

Shin bared fang-like teeth and shoved his body further up Sasuke's sword, driving the harsh metal into his body as he neared Sasuke, another blade in his hands. He swung, but Sasuke was elite, he was an Uchiha, and he was damn angry.

With the flick of his wrist, he brought the sword outside Shin's body, cutting through him till his sword was free from skin once again. The man cried out in pain, his blood coating every inch of Sasuke's body before he finally fell to the forest floor. Sasuke wrung his sword free of the carnage and of the unworthy man's blood, allowing the satisfaction of vengence wash through him. He gace himself a moment to calm down and wipe a bit of blood from him before returning to Sakura. She hadn't moved an inch, still huddled by the tree, her eyes closed.

She looked like a glass statue and he had to hold out a hand and touch her to make sure she was real.

She flinched at the contact but when she saw who he was, she breathed easier and smiled at him. He noticed how she was even more pale if that was possible. Between her legs a small stream of blood and water flowed, and Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Sakura!"

"My water broke," she whispered, leaning heavily against the tree. "We.. have to get back... home..."

He nodded fiercely, trying to keep himself as calm as she seemed to be. Ever so slowly he lifted her up, her cries of pain causing him to stop.

"No, move!" she gasped. "We have to move, Sasuke. If we don't go back, then the baby could die. No matter what you have to take me back to the village."

Again he said nothing and acted, putting one arm under her legs and the other to support her back as he leaped into the air, fear clawing its way up his spine. For some reason, though the enemies had been defeated, Sasuke felt no peace. Sakura panted heavily in his grip, shaking like a leaf despite the concentrated look on her face. He could hear her initiate breathing exercises, trying to control her chakra. But it was too erratic and weak to produce anything helpful to her. Sasuke quickened his pace.

She needed Lady Tsunade now.

**Chapter 7 end. **

**So now we have come full circle. There won't be anymore flash backs, only the present. Please continue reading for the conclusion to the Origins of the New Uchiha.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello again, and welcome to the final chapter of The Origins of the New Uchiha. I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I did writing it, and please read the AU at the end. You may like it. **

**Origins of the New Uchiha**

**Chapter 8.**

**In the present. He's terrified, though all the enemies are dead.**

They arrived at the border of the village, Sasuke's fear staving off exhaustion and Sakura quiet as death. She did not move an inch and barely breathed with her chest pumping out quick heaves then silencing for a few anxious moments. He could hardly bear it, so helpless when she needed him most. He could feel energies approaching from the village, and he slowed his pace to meet them attempting to remain calm despite the tremors of nerves spiking across his skin. The border was coming up quickly, and Sasuke feared that he would not be able to cross it with the seals preventing him. But he couldn't know for sure until they finally reached the boarder, and that may be too late. The welcoming party came out to greet him, and he was surprised to feel Naruto's red, pulsating chakra among them.

"Sasuke!" Naruto's loud voice carried over the expanse of the forest as the two rushed to meet each other. "Sakura!"

"She's in labor!" Sasuke bellowed, running beside Naruto toward the village. The other ninja beside Naruto he recognized as the Hokage's personal entourage, which dived on ahead faster than Sasuke could go carrying Sakura.

"Is she okay?" Naruto asked, his voice broken with worry. Naruto had had two children so far, two little girls, so he knew the pains of labor. The fact that Sakura was completely silent frightened him.

"I don't know."

Naruto looked up to Sasuke's face, the shadows and lines making the Uchiha look twenty years older and much more frail than Naruto had ever seen him before. Sasuke's face mouth was set in a hard line, scruff of a sprouting beard lining his jaw, but his eyes held the vulnerability of a child, lost and broken.

"My squad is going to get the old lady," Naruto said reassuringly. "You cannot pass the border with your seals, _goddamn them_. So Tsunade will come to you."

Sasuke shook his head. "There's no need. Take Sakura, and get her to a hospital." He stopped in his run and made to hand his wife to Naruto, though it pained him to do so. Sakura's safety was worth more than him being there for her now.

"No!" Sakura cried abruptly from Sasuke's arms.

Naruto and the Uchiha jumped from her outburst, the first she'd made since the beginning of their journey. Sasuke lowered his voice to a soothing tone, putting his lips near her ear to whisper, "You need a hospital."

But she clutched at the sleeves of Sasuke's shirt, staring up at him with eyes so bright and tearful his heart broke at the sight. He' could hardly remember a time when she had appeared as weak. "Please," she breathed. "Don't... don't make me be w-without you. I can't do this alone."

Sasuke felt tears rush to his eyes before he could stop them, pursing his lips to keep them from falling out of his eyes. He looked up to Naruto helplessly and saw his friend already crying. "Okay."

Tsunade arrived in almost the next instant, barreling through the forest faster than he'd ever seen her move. With her inhuman strength, she snatched Sakura from his arms and laid her down on the forest floor, a light pillow behind her head. She put a hand over Sakura's cheek and neck, feeling her pulse and then going down to her swollen belly. "She'll have to deliver now, but she's over a month premature." She shook her head. "Oh, Sakura."

Sakura smiled up at her master. "You know me." Her eyes closed and she lolled her head backwards.

"Are you in pain?" Tsunade asked, tearing pieces of fabric from her own shirt and laying them beside her in a neat pile.

Sakura nodded feebily. "I.. I can't cry out. I'm too weak..."

She was right. Even speaking seemed to draw the breath from Sakura's body. Beside her Sasuke paced back and forth, running bloody hands through his hair. He felt almost insane with worry. He couldn't bear to see this.

"Sasuke calm yourself!" Tsunade barked angrily. "Sit beside her, she needs you."

Instantly, he did as told, Naruto sitting beside him and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. Sasuke, despite his haze of turmoil, felt grateful to his friend.

A few agonizing minutes passed with Sakura only breathing heavily, her face coated with a light sheen of sweat. Her skin looked pasty, her eyes dull and almost lifeless when she could manage to open them. She would sometimes clench in pain, short, tiny gasps escaping her mouth, and it was then that Tsunade had to bellow to her pupil to remember breathing.

At length, the lady Hokage shook her head slowly, looking up to Sasuke. "This isn't good, Uchiha," she said in a low voice. "Sakura has no energy to give birth. If she remains like this, it will kill her and the baby too."

"What of a cesarian?" Naruto asked, panicked. "There has to be something-"

"A cesarian would kill her faster," Tsunade cut him off. "She's lost too much blood under the hands of those... _**bastards**__!"_ She calmed herself and looked up to Sasuke. "You might have to choose, boy. Her or the baby."

Sasuke didn't hesitate a milisecond. "Save her!"

"No!"

Again, Sakura's voice surprised all of them, weak and pitiable but there nonetheless. Sasuke, however, would have none of it. He shouted angrily, "What do I care for a baby I've never met! You're the one who has to live on! If it's losing you, I don't need a goddamn baby!"

Her eyes filled with tears that fell down her face in a steady stream. "You- you don't know what you're saying. This.. our baby, they're the future of the Uchiha. It's your legacy, Sasuke. What you always wanted."

He shook his head rapidly grasping her hands in his and kissing them tenderly. Beside him Naruto and Tsunade pulled in light breaths at seeing such intimacy from the always brusque Uchiha. He didn't even glance in their direction, only looking at Sakura. "_You're _the future of the Uchiha," he whispered. "I don't need anything else. Even if the Uchiha died with just you and me, it'd be fine. I don't care. You're my family, Sakura."

The pink-haired kunoichi closed her eyes, as if his words struck her harder than the pain. "Please," she begged. "_Please_, don't kill our baby. I can do this. Believe in me, Sasuke. Give me some time."

Sasuke's tears did fall now, dripping lightly one Sakura's cheeks below him. He was shaking, holding her hands in his like a life line. He couldn't lose her. His possessiveness over her dictated that he ought to take matters into his own hands, knock her unconscious and save her, kill the baby. Despite everything, he found himself despising his own child, which like a leech was killing Sakura, sucking the life out of his precious wife. But Sakura's hands were steady, holding him still. She was being brave again, taking matters into her own hands, and though he hated it more than he hated the men who had taken her, he nodded slowly. He had to trust her.

"I believe in you," he whispered, kissing her softly on her chapped lips.

"Thank you," she returned in his ear before shifting her attention to Lady Tsunade. "Master, I want you to give me some chakra. I can do this, but I don't have enough energy right now."

Tsunade seemed to hesitate, as if she knew what Sakura was doing while Sasuke did not. He didn't care at this point, holding Sakura's hand and whispering in her ear how powerful she was, how she could conquer this, how all the Uchiha before her were on her side. Sasuke believed as most traditional men did that the ancestors watched over their posterity, and he prayed silently to them now that they would somehow help Sakura.

The pain started shaking Sakura like a leaf and as Tsunade fed Sakura her chakra, Sakura's moans of pain began to grow louder as she pushed. It went on for hours, an agonizingly slow process that Sakura spent the majority of time crying in pain, squeezing Sasuke's hand so hard at times he thought it would break, but he bore it without hesitation, forgetting himself and continuously whispering in her ear.

"We'll take a long leave," he was saying at one point. "We won't let them put me on missions for a year. I'll stay with you every day." He continuously kissed her head, her eyes, her ears, her fingers. It helped, he knew. He could feel her relax, remember her breathing exercises and calm herself.

"This can't go on for much longer," Tsunade said as the sun began to set behind the lines of trees. "Sakura will not survive the night. We have to-"

"No!" Sakura gasped. "A little longer. I can, ha, I can do this!"

The young woman grit her teeth and began to scream louder.

"A head!" Tsunade yelled joyously. "Here it is!"

With another final yell, Sakura closed her eyes and stilled, and when her cries stopped, the cries of another began. It was a tiny yell, high-pitched and precious. Sasuke would never forget the sound of his first born, healthy and roaring with life in the Lady Hokage's hands.

"A boy!" she proclaimed, wrapping him in the clothes she'd once been wearing.

But Sasuke dragged his attention from his boy and turned back to his wife, who lay still, pale, and cold. "Sakura?" he whispered, terrified.

A moment passed.

Then another.

"Sakura."

She did not stir.

Sasuke's heart stilled to lifelessness.

Naruto did not move.

The baby's cries were the only sound.

"Sakura." Whispered, feverish. Grasping her fingers, rubbing her hair. "Sakura, don't you dare."

Gradually, he shifted a hand down to her chest, feeling for a heart beat, dreading, dreading, dreading. If she was dead, he would join her. If she was dead, their baby would have a zombie for a father, Sasuke would curse the Uchiha clan, his own life. Sasuke wouldn't care about living. If she was dead, he was dead too.

"Sakura."

"I'm up." She blinked her eyes open, eyelashes fluttering lazily. He'd heard her say the same thing and do the same motion on lazy days when they both had no missions. She'd stretch next and roll on top of him, asking him what he wanted for breakfast with a delicious kiss. "A boy," she whispered instead, raising a hand to his cheek. "I hope he has your eyes."

Sasuke lowered his head to her face, his shoulders shaking as he burst into tears. He watched them fall down onto Sakura's cheeks as she smiled up at him, still weak but already the color was returning to her once white face. She looked beautiful. "Sasuke," she whispered, kissing him, "thank you for believing in me."

He reached over with shaking hands and wrapped her in a gentle hug, sobbing like his own son still held by the Hokage. It was finally over, he could keep her. His sins, though greivous, were not enough for the fates to take his wife from him. He could keep her. He could keep her.

Tsunade cleared her throat, tears running down her face as she tried to say with impatience, "Well, we have a baby here with no name. Come on you two."

Naruto was also crying, rubbing his hands over his eyes repeatedly. "Leave them alone, you old hag. They worked hard for this."

"No," Sakura said, kissing Sasuke's forehead and then turning toward Tsunade. "I already know a name for him."

Sasuke looked at her puzzled as she smiled wickedly up at him.

"Taka. That's a good a name as any. He'll be like an eagle, the first of the New Uchiha, soaring over the stupidity of his parents." She laughed. "He'll be the greatest ninja the world has ever known."

Sasuke nodded slowly, smiling at his wife's logic. "I suppose if it had been a girl, you would want to call it Hana," he whispered into her ear. Her grin widened.

"Of course."

**Six years later.**

"Taka! Get back here!"

The tiny boy with black hair and black eyes sped faster each second, looking behind him in fear of his mother, who was slowly gaining on him despite her formidable size. She was near bursting with another baby, but that didn't mean she'd let her son get the better of her. In his hands was a short throwing knife, one of his father's that was deemed too sharp for him to play with without daddy being there. And his father was currently on a mission.

"Mom, I want to play with it! I won't hurt myself!" he cried, leaping into the air much higher than someone his age should. But just as he began to soar, she caught him by his sandal and threw him to the ground with no remorse, taking the knife from his hands before he hit.

He sat up and promptly burst into tears. "Owwwww!"

"Oh, don't be a baby," Sakura teased, lifting him into the air with her inhuman strength and setting him on his feet. With the sleeve of her red shirt, she rubbed a bit of dirt from his eyes. "Tell me, Taka, do Uchiha cry?"

He nodded, his tiny face a beat red and wet with hot tears. "Yes! I'm- I'm crying! And I'm an Uchiha!

She threw her head back and laughed. Her son was quite his own man. He didn't care for what others thought of him, not even his teachers at times. Taka had a wild streak of rebellion running through his veins that Sakura feared was from his father, though Taka used it to defy all previous traditions of what he _should be_ and turned it into a tool to become who he _wanted _to be. Sakura loved her son for it. He seemed to simply not care that the Uchiha were once known as solemn and ambitious individuals. Though, she thought with a sly smile, that might be because Taka spent so much time with Naruto's second daughter Kushina, who had flaming blonde hair and energy enough to rival her father's in his adolesence. She could sense the two becoming uncommonly close despite their once opposite personalities. Now they were almost clones of each other, though Kushina would always be the more wild.

"Good," Sakura said now to her son, rubbing his hair. "You're allowed to cry at home. With mommy and daddy. Don't do it outside, though, yes?"

He nodded seriously. "Kushina says that men who cry are babies! But I've only cried in front of her once, and she was crying too!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yes, the time when the pair of you got caught in the typhoon outside the city, I remember. You both also cried when I punished you. Never leave the city again!" And she pinched his cheek, making him squirm even more.

"Don't pinch!" he cried, seeking to pinch his mother as well, but she was too fast for him, catching him by his little arms and holding him down, tickling him.

They were in their courtyard, the one where years ago Sakura had been taken from their home when she was pregnant with Taka, but Sakura rarely thought of that hardly remembered anything from it. She still loved the courtyard as the best place in the house, especially because it was perfect for playing with her little boy. Her son was growing stronger by the day, already a prodigy in his ninja classes and ascending the ladder of ninja hierchy quickly, though Sasuke intentionally kept him with children his own age, knowing the damage it had done to Itachi to grow up too fast. Now the little boy giggled and laughed with abandon, not a single edge of his father's or even grandfather's seriousness inside him.

Taka and Sakura romped in the courtyard, chasing one another (though Sakura was still admittedly slower because of how pregnant she was, and Taka took advantage of her decreased speed with giggles) and laughing, though eventually Sakura began to tire. She didn't give up, though, trying to catch her son, who seemed happy to dance out of her reach, waving his hands in a light taunt.

He was so involved with his mother that he didn't sense a presence behind him until it wrapped him in a rock-hard embrace, crushing his chest. "Ah!" Taka screamed in surprise, trying to push his father away. "Daddy, let go! I'm playing with mommy!"

"You're being mean to your mother," Sasuke said in a firm voice, looking worriedly over the panting Sakura, who was smiling despite her fatigue. "What did I tell you about being good to her while I'm away? You know how tired she gets right now."

Taka looked up to his father's serious eyes and then lowered his head in apology. "I'm sorry, mommy."

Sakura laughed. "Aw, Sasuke, don't be mean to your son." She approached her husband and gave him a long kiss on the lips. "We missed you."

Sasuke's serious face melted into a wide smile as he hefted his son playfully in the air. "Alright, alright," he said laughing. "Did you do well in your studies?"

"Yes, yes," the boy screamed while flying in the air, unafraid despite the height he ascended. Sasuke was as expert with his little boy as he was with everything and tossed him about with ease. At first Sakura had been against it, but seeing how much Taka loved it melted her resolve. (That tended to happen alot when he stared up at her with Sasuke's eyes.)

Taka burst into giggles as well as his father lifted him. "Daddy, I want to show you something!" he cried abruptly. He squirmed to be put down, which Sasuke did after a while. "Come on! Come on!" Taka prodded, grabbing his father's hands in his much smaller ones and dragging him outside of the courtyard, to the lake that lay just south of their house.

The boardwalk creaked a little bit under his, Taka's, and Sakura's bare feet, and Sasuke thought for a moment that he would have to remodel it before it got too old and dangerous to walk on. Taka didn't seem to care, blasting ahead of his parents at a full run and stopping just at the edge of the wooden pathway, so his toes leaned over the edge and reflected in the still water.

"Are you watching? You too mommy!" he screamed, terribly excited.

"Yes, yes," Sasuke said with a smile. "Go on." To Sakura he said quietly, "Do you know what he's up to?"

She shook her head. "No idea. Though he did say yesterday that he had something he wanted us to see when you got back."

Sasuke turned his attention back to his son and felt a swelling of pride as he looked at his boy's black shirt, the Uchiha crest boldly on his back. His son was strong and capable. He had Sakura's kindness, as Sasuke hoped, and his own strength, along with the bloodline of the Uchiha flowing in his veins. As Sakura had said the day he was born, Taka could grow to become the greatest ninja of all time.

Taka tensed, his hands flying up and down, forming seals in rapid succession and Sasuke recognized the jutsu immediately. Taka then raised his fingers to his lips, a flash of fire screaming from his mouth so large and hot that the water began to boil underneath it. Beside him Sakura gasped and laughed in delight, but Sasuke couldn't bring himself to move, hit so suddenly with nostalgia. He'd performed the same jutsu for his own father in this place years before.

The fireball finally dispelled, and Taka turned to his parents, his eyes full of suspense, waiting for acknowledgement.

Sasuke approached his son slowly, knowing that what he said here would stay with his son forever. Early on in being a father, Sasuke vowed to never leave Taka in doubt of his love for him. Sasuke drew his son into his arms in a deep hug and whispered into his ears, "That's my boy. That's my boy."

Taka laughed and bounced happily, pleased with the response and soon running to his mother to receive equally loving embraces from her, though she showered him with kisses as well. Sasuke looked at his family, his wife and his son laughing and happy in his home. They truly were the New Uchiha, and he had a feeling that they would be better than any Uchiha before.

**The end.**

**Well, it's the first time I've ever actually finished something from beginning to end, and I must say I'm excessively proud of myself! It's a short piece, but I loved writing it. Everything came pretty easily. **

**ps. I may be posting one-shots in this story, little tidbits and mini stories about Sasuke's life as a father, Sasuke's life as a husband, a few mini stories about ANBU missions with Hana and Taka etc. Oh, and I also love the idea of having something about Taka and Kushina Uzumaki (Naruto's little girl) so let me know if you like that too. I have a couple more ideas that didn't fit in with the story of this one, but they might be published eventually. **

**As always, thanks for reading.**


	9. Extra 1

**The Great Seduction"**

**Three months after the birth of Taka, their little boy.**

Sakura watched Sasuke with adoration as he gently held baby Taka in his strong arms. Clothed in a traditional dark blue robe that parted gently in the chest and showed off his muscular arms, he looked soft, inviting, and sexier that Sakura could remember ever seeing him. Sasuke's paternal side had Sakura practically quaking in her bathrobe, but she ignored her desire for him to simply watch and stare as he talked conversationally with Taka. His whispered comments were never in baby-talk. He always spoke with Taka as if he were a full-grown adult, and though Sakura couldn't quite hear from the bed what he was saying, she could tell it wasn't anything of consequence, despite Sasuke's serious nature. She knew that her husband simply enjoyed talking to their son, even at the cost of looking foolish.

He looked up at her briefly, a smile in his dark eyes, before turning his attention back to the tiny boy, whose hands played gently with his father's hair. It was getting longer, Sakura noted, swooping down in the front and brushing his shoulders in the back. Sasuke's scruff also looked a little mangy and unkempt, threatening to grow into a full-blown beard in a few days.

Again Sakura didn't care, only finding the contrast of his rugged appearance with the gentleness of his actions all the more attracting. She could hardly bear the sexual tension boiling inside her, and she swallowed a lump in her throat to keep it down. Pregnancy hadn't slowed them down until around the sixth month, where she had gotten a bit too large to make love to. She had been fine with it then, feeling most of the time too bloated and fat to be attractive anyway, but she could tell Sasuke had struggled with abstinence, keeping very close to her but refraining nonetheless. Now that she had given birth, she had expected him to practically tackle her any day, but he did not. He looked at her, smiled at her, kissed her constantly, but never made an attempt beyond that.

It was driving her crazy. She could have blamed it on the hormones or how damn attractive her husband was, but Sakura had to admit that she wanted it. She was hornier than a drunk school girl, and she was determined to have her husband. Now if need be.

"Sasuke," she said lazily as she stretched across their bed, taking care to allow her own bathrobe to hike naturally up her leg and reveal pale, soft skin, "don't you think we should put Taka to bed? I'm getting..." (she sighed expressively) "tired."

Sasuke looked up to Sakura's stretched out figure and swallowed,pausing for a moment. He nodded without a word and stood to leave, bringing Taka into the nursery next door. Sakura leaned for a moment, checking to see if he was gone, and then bolted out of the bed. She moved to the mirror above their dresser and mussed her hair about, purposefully tangling the long locks together to create some more volume. Pulling apart her white robe, she surveyed her body in black lingerie, objectively thinking it was satisfactory. Though, she thought with a wicked smile, her breasts had grown at least a few sizes since giving birth, and that was sure to please Sasuke.

Hearing him approach, she lunged into bed, stretching herself out on their blankets in an attempt to look casual yet sexy. Yes, after months of abstinence, she would have him tonight. Of this she was certain!

"Sakura," Sasuke said in a low husky voice, tickling her ear with his warm breath. She allowed herself a shudder of anticipation.

"Hmm?"

"Can you move over a bit?"

Sakura's eyes snapped open. "What?"

He wasn't yet in the bed, standing over his side in customary black boxers and a gray T-shirt, the robe discarded on the side of a nearby chair. "You're on my side."

She blinked in surprise and moved slowly over, watching him as he climbed beside her into bed. He lowered his body under the sheets, his warmth spreading nicely to her side of the bed and exciting her further. She would remain undaunted by his stoniness, she decided.

"Sasuke," she said breathily, moving her arms over his body and sidling up to his side. She allowed her breasts to brush his body as she held him, "I've missed you."

Her husband sighed contentedly and held her close but not the way Sakura wanted. He was being affectionate, gentle, but not at all sexual. She could remember several times not a year ago when she would pull a similar move, and that was all it took for him to roll over and take her without another word. Now he only held her, breathing slowly as if he were about to drop off.

That was not what she wanted! He couldn't possibly be that tired! They had had a normal, peaceful day about the house, taking care of and playing with Taka, eating together in peace, swimming in the lake. After such a day it was only natural for them to be together at night.

Or did he no longer find her attractive?

The thought made her heart sink into her stomach, and all the blood rushed to her head. No, that wasn't possible. He had never, not once, shown any sign of not being attracted to her. Before Taka had been born, they had literally been all over each other. Maybe with the birth of the baby, he found her body unattractive, disgusting.

She grimaced and had a brief moment of sheer panic jut through her body. She couldn't bear to even think of it. Sasuke's body was like a pleasure factory, generating the most powerful sensations she had ever known, and she would not be deprived of it.

Rallying her iron-like will, she rationalized that no matter what, Sasuke was a man. Men, she knew scientifically, responded to stimulation. She wouldn't be denied her own husband. Slowly, gently, so that he possibly could ignore the movement until it was too late, she moved her fingers over his chest, playing it off like an innocent stretch that he ignored easily enough. But with another flick of her wrist, she began drawing tiny circles over his torso. He let out a low breath, half asleep, and leaned into her touch. She smiled devilishly, letting her hands wander down to the hem of his shirt, playing with the warm skin of his hardened abdomen. Instinctually he moved his hips slightly upward, which caused Sakura's grin to widen. Just a little lower and...

"Stop!" he gasped, snatching her hand away from him by her wrist. She was so shocked by the action that she flinched and nearly fell off her side of the bed. Luckily, he was holding her enough to keep her close.

"W-What?" she whispered, horrified. In the darkness of the room she couldn't quite see his expression, and that made her all the more scared. "Sasuke?"

He was panting slightly, laying a large hand over Sakura's cheek. "I'm sorry. Not tonight."

Sakura blinked into the air, watching as he slowly turned away from her, pulling the covers over his shoulders. She was so shocked she didn't know quite what to do or say. She felt that the situation required explaining, but she was so afraid that he wasn't attracted to her any longer that she couldn't bring herself to ask. He had just blatantly refused her, an action that had never before occurred. Not once since they'd gotten married.

She clenched her jaw and closed her eyes, trying to mask her emotions, trying to calm her chakra that threatened to spike. But she realized that such composure was impossible and she had to leave the room before she exploded into tears. It was the hormones, she thought desperately, that made her so sensitive. Rolling out of the bed, she retreated out the door, down the hall and outside into the courtyard.

She breathed a sigh of relief upon a cool blaze of wind that hit her face, scattering her hair into the night air. The courtyard looked beautiful in the sparse light of the summer moon. The water flowed lazily in the stream beside the cherry blossom tree, soothing Sakura's frazzled nerves. She knew this is where she had been kidnapped months before, but no matter how much she tried, she could hardly remember anything of the incident. The most she could recall were shady, fragmented images of delivering Taka on the forest floor with Sasuke, Naruto, and Lady Tsunade by her side. A week later, she'd awoken in the hospital, Sasuke holding their infant son in his arms.

Sasuke.

She closed her eyes. She didn't know what she would do if he didn't want her anymore. What on earth would happen to their family? To Taka? Was there anything she could do to change herself? Make herself more desirable?

Gritting her teeth, she fought the urge to punch giant holes in the ground, roaring for an explanation. Somehow she held her temper in check.

She heard the door slide open behind her and knew that he was there. She could feel his eyes on her back, watching her.

"I'm sorry," she said in a gasping breath, trying to keep her tears in. The hormones, damn them, she thought. Everything seemed so much worse with her emotions rocking about like a ship at sea.

A pair of warm arms and a solid chest enveloped her from behind. "What?" he whispered in her ear. "What are you apologizing for, Sakura?"

She shook her head. "I- I can't... I'm sorry. I want to be what you want. I don't want our love to die."

"What?" He turned her gently around, lacing fingers through her hair to bring her eyes to meet his. "What are you talking about?"

"Do..." She raised her nerve. "Do you not want me?"

He blinked, the Sasuke-version of surprise crossing his face. "Not want you?"

She raised red eyes to his. "I know my body went through a lot with the baby, but I-"

"I always want you," he cut her off with a maddeningly straight face.

"W-What?"

"Always."

"Then-" She allowed herself a little bit of anger here. "Then what the _hell_!"

He pulled her into a deep hug, kissing her forehead lovingly. "Listen, I know you might not understand this, Sakura, but listen. You don't remember what happened when Taka was born. You don't remember how still you were, how..." He swallowed. "How weak. I've never been so terrified. And the idea of ever hurting you... I can't even-"

"You think you'll hurt me by...?" she trailed off. "That's why?" She felt guilty, but an enormous bout of relief flooded her system. She felt like laughing but didn't want to offend Sasuke in any way.

To her question he nodded. "So... Sakura, just for a while. We can be patient. I want you to recover fully before we're intimate again."

She slowly nodded as well in affirmation. Looking up to her husband, she gave him a small smile and kissed the frown off his face. It was a small kiss, like a peck, but it felt so nice that Sakura didn't hesitate to plant another on him, slightly longer. Then another, opening her mouth slightly. She enjoyed his arms about her, tightening slightly as she felt his warm tongue tease her lips before slipping inside her mouth. Warm heat spread from her neck, down her back and to her nether regions. She brought her fingers up to play with his hair, tugging it slightly in silent demand. More.

He gave her another long kiss before bringing her inside, putting her in bed.

And leaving her alone, turning his back and falling asleep almost instantly.

She sat up, still raging with the heat he'd left on her body, and looked icily at his sleeping form. "Of course, you know this means war."

-oOo-

And it truly was war.

Sakura never attempted to initiate sex, not for two weeks. Oh, but she was a wicked tease. Sasuke would awake to Sakura standing in the bathroom, clad in stringy lingerie and stretching delightfully in the morning light. She'd turn to him as if she hadn't heard him wake up and smile radiantly. "Oh, so you're up already." She'd put a hand on his chest, offer him a delicious good-morning kiss that was far too long to not be suggestive, and then leave him in the bathroom, saying something about an early morning run. He'd be left stunned, the image of her rear left to simmer in his mind while she dressed and went out.

In the afternoons, she'd disregard clothing completely, napping in broad daylight, naked except for a sheer towel delightfully hiding her rising and lowering breasts. During such times, Sasuke would attempt to leave the house altogether, but upon leaving, the image of her just _lying_ there would pop into his mind, and he suddenly couldn't bring himself to go, not when she was so beautiful. When she would notice his presence, she'd merely sigh lazily and stretch, allowing the towel to part in suggestive places just so he could get a long look at her body. And he was expected to not lunge at her?

Yes. And he didn't. And when he left, Sakura would crack an eye and pout with raging fists in the air.

When they were out, with friends, just them, on her own, Sakura would wear decidedly sexy clothing. Black, slick dresses, hot red skirts, her hair swinging tantalizingly to and fro across her back side. Sasuke could feel the glances of other men, perusing her body, longing to do to her what he had refused. It was more than once that Sasuke had to silently intimidate those who were brave enough to stare with such ferocity. It was even driven to such a point that men began to approach Sakura with Sasuke standing not two feet from her. And Sasuke would have beaten them to a bloody pulp if Sakura had not been so maddeningly coy about the whole thing, acting as if she didn't know what on earth was going on when the men approached. She would merely smile and give them a wink. "Oh, sorry about that, boys, I'm taken." When Naruto once commented on it, saying Sakura was, "Damn fine despite being a new mama," Sasuke had finally asked her to save those clothes for special occasions. Of course, she'd act innocent. "I haven't been wearing anything out of the usual," she said with the light batting of her long eyelashes.

What was even worse were the touches she always gave him in public. They were tiny, no one noticed them. But they were Sasuke's undoing. At times under the table she'd let her fingers wander, stroking the underside of his thigh gently. She'd make swirls and dips that would go tantalizingly close to ecstasy but then pull back in the next second. Sasuke would be so engrossed in the sensation that he would forget about the current conversation at the table, forget the people at the table even, until someone would call out to him and ask why he looked like he was in pain.

He wouldn't come up with an answer, so Sakura would. "Oh, don't mind him. You know how he likes to think to himself."

Other times in public she would trace fingers over his back, place kisses on his cheeks, sometimes touch his chest but only for a moment until Sasuke was hypersensitive to Sakura's presence. It was too much to bear with her looking, smelling, and feeling so damn delectable. But no matter what, Sasuke willed himself to be strong, to look out for Sakura's health. There were times when he would catch her dropping things on accident, running into doors and walls, sleeping for hours when they were home, even though she slept more than enough at night.

_I'd give her a reason to be tired_ Sasuke thought sadistically one day, feeling his limit approaching like a crisis. _I'll make her sleep for three days_ _after I'm done with her._

But he had to shake his head and shake the feeling of lust from his body. That was what Sakura wanted: Sasuke's sadistic and dominating nature to take control until he finally ravaged her. It wasn't what he wanted, though. He wanted Sakura to be healthy, to resume missions before they became intimate again. Sakura was also very busy with Taka and the work she did at the hospital, and he felt that adding the stress of rough (very rough to punish her for making him suffer) sex to her body might induce a collapse. It was his belief, and it kept him from having her.

For another two weeks.

Sakura didn't once stop in her silent warfare. But she realized with time that a silent war wasn't to be won against Sasuke Uchiha. He had a will of iron, just as strong as hers, if not even stronger. That meant that she had to be cool, clever. It had to come out of nowhere so he would be caught off guard. She realized that perhaps being too sexy was the root of her failure. It allowed Sasuke to build up a kind of immunity to her charms. She quickly changed tactics.

She simmered down, gradually and slowly so he barely noticed it. Her kisses were soft and sweet, her hugs genuine and loving, not sexual. They talked, lied down together, fell asleep at night, played with little Taka. Sakura wanted Sasuke more than ever, but she was patient as she was sly. He was out on one of his day-missions, one that wouldn't last more than a couple of hours but put him far enough from the house that she wouldn't have to worry about him. Tonight would be the night.

Sakura cleaned the house studiously, prepared dinner and bath-time for Taka early and put the baby to bed an hour ahead their normal schedule. This allowed Sakura the time to get in the bath herself, coating her body with soap and sweet-smelling perfumes, though not too much because she knew that it would annoy him. Then heading to Sasuke's closet, she dawned one of his bigger shirts, a feature that was sure to remind him of the habit she had had when they first got married. She had worn his clothes to bed almost every night, and when he had finally asked her why, she'd replied, "I just like it when I feel like I'm an Uchiha. Having this crest on my back means so much, I feel like I'm incomplete without it."

That night Sakura was sure was the night Taka had been conceived, but she could only speculate. The beginning of their marriage had been filled with many such nights, but there was no harm in believing as she liked. Sakura checked the time as the sun set behind the Hidden Leaf skyline, sure that Sasuke would be home within the hour. Her plan was far from simple. It required timing and the most sensual performance she would ever give her husband. Lying in bed, wrapped in his clothes, Sakura would give him the show of a lifetime, and if that didn't induce him into bed, she didn't know what possibly would.

She'd rub herself, coax him with heated eyes, moan under her own ministrations until he could do nothing but join in the fun himself. In his clothes, his long-sleeved blue shirt, she'd inhale his scent, murmur his name, call to him, and then he would most certainly be shattered. Sakura would admit that the idea of some sort of exhibition did make her nervous. It was something she'd never had to do for Sasuke before, since he'd been more than a willing enough partner, but in order to break this horrid stalemate, Sakura was willing to do something a little outlandish.

She grinned into the sheets just thinking about it. Yes, Sasuke was in for a big treat. Yawning slowly, she rolled over, one hand flopping absently on her stomach. The only problem was that she had to wait for him to arrive. It was taking longer than usual, an hour coming and going easily. Cicada bugs began to sound in the night air, the moon rising in the eastern night sky. She could see it all from her open window, but she turned away from the moonlight in the next moment, deciding it was too bright for her taste. She yawned again and pulled some covers up. There was no point in being cold.

Then it started slowly, like a thief in the night. Sleep began to take her, and she was so warm and comfortable she forgot why she was trying to fight it. Lying on their bed, surrounded by warmth and the combined smell of her husband and herself, Sakura drifted off unconsciously into sleep.

She awoke to a stirring beside her, the sound of the door to their bedroom sliding open, soft foot-falls approaching. "Sakura?"

It was Sasuke! He was home already, and her whole plan was ruined!

Sakura groaned slightly, raising herself into a sitting position. "Dammit," she muttered under her breath.

"What?" he asked.

Still half asleep, Sakura swore again, rubbing her eyes with the back of the long, blue sleeve. "Oh, nothing... I just was waiting for you to get home, and I had this wonderful idea, but now it's all ruined." She finally raised her eyes to her husband's and smiled, despite her anger at herself. "Welcome home. Are you hungry? I could fix you something if you want." She stretched slowly, getting herself out of bed, which was difficult with the overly long sleeves impeding her fingers' grasp on the sheets.

"Sakura," Sasuke said in a quiet voice. "Why are you wearing my shirt?"

A light blush stole over her cheeks at the idea she'd had earlier. "Oh this?" she said easily, "I just wanted to wear it. You know I used to wear these all time. I miss how soft they were." She wrapped her arms around herself, inhaling deeply the scent of fresh fabric with a tinge of Sasuke. "I remember when we got married how I wanted to wear these all the time because it felt so good to have them. They smell just like you, and they remind me every time I see them how good it is to know you're my family, and I'm yours. I can't explain it really. I just know that being an Uchiha, being part of this family, is the best thing I've ever done. And I'm happy I could do it with you."

She smiled softly and lowered her eyes from his in sudden thought. She might put some soup on for him, since it was somewhat of a chilly night. A sudden movement made her look back up to him, and the look in his eyes blew all other thoughts away. His expression was unreadable, the most strange expression she had ever seen on his face. "Sasuke?" she asked softly. "Are you alright?"

She reached up a hand to touch his face, and he grabbed it instantly, kissing each finger on her hand and then moving to the palm, kissing there too.

"Sasuke?" she whispered.

He put one of her fingers in his mouth and sucked lightly then continued kissing it, moving past her palms this time, drawing her closer as he kissed so slowly up her forearm, to her bicep, kissing, kissing, kissing.

"Sasuke…"

With his teeth, he pulled at the sleeve of the blue shirt and brought it farther up her arm, exposing pale creamy flesh one centimeter at a time. His other arm looped easily around her waist, dragging her closer with the grace of water and the strength of a warrior. She made no move to resist as he continued his ministrations up both of her arms, his hands snaking around her hips and thighs and caressing her white panties. He could smell how clean she was, how sensual she felt, soft and wrapped in his scent. It activated an instinctual possessive strain in Sasuke's mind that had him nearly growling in her ears.

She let out unsteady drags of breath as she felt him peruse her body with his hands, teeth, and lips. He nuzzled her neck with low moans and whispers, simultaneously dragging his hands up and down her whole body in long, slow strokes. She found herself hotter than she ever had in her life but she was loathe to speed up the process. She wanted to archive every touch he made, every whisper he said and lock them away in the recesses of her mind, where they could keep her company whenever things got difficult in her life. The Sasuke she was feeling now was a rare if never seen Sasuke. Only one other time had he ever been so sensual, and that was on the night of their wedding, when she had first worn the Uchiha symbol on her back. Sasuke was the kind of man who was obsessive over family to the extent that he could only afford to reveal his most tender and exposed side when he recognized fully and completely that she shared his blood. It only to her, and only in moments like these.

He hadn't even penetrated her yet, but she felt as if they were one being.

Sliding her hands into his, she wrapped herself in him, putting her toes on top of his so they were standing chest to chest, flush against one another. His lips hovered back from her neck up her jaw, messing with the corner of her mouth for an instant before she tilted her head and kissed him gently. It was a long kiss, neither of them felt the need to breathe or move, just to feel each other.

But Sakura couldn't help it. She broke the kiss, only to nip gently at his mouth again, a light kiss. She did it again, then again, tugging on his shirt, tracing her palms up the side of his chest and back. She didn't need to say anything and didn't have to do much more.

Sasuke's reserve broke.

Scooping his wife up by her thighs, he practically attacked her mouth with his, groaning into the kiss as she wrapped her long legs around his waist for support. The shift in the weight caused him to stumble slightly, drunk from her body, scent, and mouth, and he crashed into their bedroom window, nearly breaking it. The cool glass against Sakura's back intensified as Sasuke unceremoniously lifted her shirt, sliding his hands greedily across the flesh of her torso and breasts. He moaned into her mouth at the touch before removing the shirt completely. No underwear impeded his mouth as it slid from her lips, licking down her collarbone and settling on the flesh in between her two pert breasts. Sakura gasped and dragged her fingers through his hair, as she reveled in the sensation of a fully clothed Sasuke against her nearly naked body.

Soon he was on the move again, lifting her up effortlessly and flinging her on their soft bed. He dived on top of her, as if loathe to be separated from her skin, but the force of his descent caused both of them to topple to the floor in a heap of skin, lips, and sheets. Neither seemed to mind as Sakura began to tug impatiently at her husband's clothes, moaning as his hands slid underneath her panties. She couldn't suppress the series of moans that escaped her lips through panted gasps, but not being touched for so long had taken its toll on Sakura. She felt her release approaching far too quickly for her liking and began to whimper despite herself.

"N-not yet," she begged, pulling at his clothes so hard that they began to tear. She was desperate enough to even put chakra into her hands, and the clothes wrenched free of his body without further hesitation. Sasuke hissed at the bold move but graciously removed his hand, trailing it back up her body to hold her while he pressed his lips back into hers.

Sakura was beginning to feel dizzy. She'd wanted this for so long that she found it difficult not to expire straight away, but her will prevented her from doing so. She'd been waiting for months, suffering without having him for so long, so she had to make the most of what she had now, prolong it as much as she could.

But the foreplay was almost too intense. They practically wrestled across their floor, knocking lamps, pictures, and equipment to the floor as they banged their bodies against dressers and nightstands, all the while their sheets were tangles in their feet and arms. Sakura finally managed to remove Sasuke's pants with another chakra-infused rip but not before he'd slid her panties off her hips with maddening slowness. She hated how he seemed to be in complete control while she was a tattered, hot mess underneath him. She'd have to be a little cruel, she decided.

In a swift movement, she slid from his grip, grabbing the sheets and stealing out of their door before he had time to register she was gone. She fled with a howling laugh down the hall, past the baby's room and into the main family room, where the tatami mats stretched out on the floor gave way to the open sliding doors that revealed the courtyard that Sakura loved so much. She'd planned to go farther into the house, but he caught her by the shoulder, ripping the sheets from her body and lifting her into the air once more with his strong, muscular arms. He growled into her ear, obviously displeased she had attempted to flee, and without ceremony he slammed them both onto the floor, knocking the wind from her body. He took advantage of her dazed state, lifting her hips onto his crouched knees. Leaning over her, he spoke in a voice so low and smoldering that she hardly recognized it to be his. "You've asked for it, Sakura."

He leaned forward, into her, and she gasped at the familiar sensation of being filled, closing her eyes against both the pain and pleasure. Sasuke let out breaths in hot, quick gasps, and it was then that she realized he was near his release and desperately trying to stave it off. Instantly all the pain was forgotten in lieu of wanting to torture him once more. Expertly, she shifted her hips upward then slammed them down in a rotating motion, squeezing as tightly as she could around him.

"Hahhh," he gasped, holding onto her so tightly that she was sure she would bruise, but that was nothing to his expression. His eyes were forced shut, his lips clenched as he breathed heavily. She knew he was feeling it more than he was letting on. And that simply would not do. Sakura wanted to see him on fire just as much as she was. She wanted him to get so much pleasure from tonight that he would never have the will to refuse her again. She would have that mask of composure completely crumbled before her.

She repeated the motion again but this time added a moan of pleasure as she gripped the tatami mats above her head. Sasuke echoed her, bending his back so he was practically laying over her stomach. Sakura was unrelenting, shifting herself once more and rolling her hips slowly, then quickening her pace with ridiculous control. Flexing herself at just the right moment, she felt a surge of pleasure as she earned moans that border lined shouts from Sasuke's gaping mouth. His lips made contact with her chest, kissing, licking, and biting away at the flesh, leaving a long stretch of drool on her abdomen and breasts as he pulled away from her to throw his head back. He was losing it. Finally, he was letting it all go. She could feel all the thoughts in his head drop away one by one, until he was nothing but a lover, nothing but a beast with the longing to fuck. She could see the change overtake him like a disease, devouring his mind and body until he let out a roar of primal domination and lust.

It was his turn now. He gripped her to him so tightly that she couldn't tell where she ended and he began, and he pounded into her without mercy. She found herself roaring along with him, gripping on and attempting to meet his demanding pace. He flipped her with ease, holding her legs upward as he drove into her. He screamed out sounds that resembled both growls and words, but it was impossible to tell the difference between the two. There were no more words in their vicious coupling. No verbal words anyway. There were the spasms of their bodies, the merging of their heartbeats, and their combined moans of pleasure that became as good a language as any to the husband and wife. How long they went was indistinguishable. Sakura felt so lost in her high of finally having Sasuke once more that she didn't bother to consider anything else. The house could have burned around them, and they wouldn't have known the difference.

Without warning, Sakura's stomach began to contort violently, her insides flaming up so suddenly she let out another cry of both surprise and pleasure. She shuddered, her whole body shaking, and Sasuke shook with her, letting out another final cry before they both stilled, gasping and panting in a tumbled heap, wrapped from head to toe in arms, legs, and sweat.

His skin was so hot and alive that Sakura felt she might melt under it. His arms were shaking as her held her close. Naked and heaving in the light of the moon, Sasuke continued to trail wet kisses up her neck, licking away at her flesh as if he were addicted to the taste. She knew that she heard him murmur "So good," more than once among other, rambling words she couldn't quite make out. For hours, they rolled across the floor together, sloppily making out and grasping each other. His hands were always busy, sometimes grabbing her breasts sensuously, sliding down her hips, circling her buttocks or just hovering around her neck as a guide to her mouth. Sakura found herself whispering naughty things into his ears, licking at the lobes in between spicy, forbidden words that had him groaning and biting her back.

With a devilish whisper, she planted an idea in his brain, her hands suggestively floating beneath his hips and tracing his hardened member with her fingertips. He shuddered and groaned, lost in her touch, and she trailed merciless kisses and nips down his chest, marveling at the dark spots she left in his skin. It was still amazing that one of the most powerful beings in the world allowed her to bruise him in so intimate of places.

Finally she reached the object of her desire, floating above it with hot breaths. Gingerly, she slid her tongue up the side of the shaft until she reached the leaking head, acute to how taught Sasuke's body was. The moment she touched it, his entire body moved, and she felt a surge of pride at how she could control his entire being with only her mouth.

The pride made her bold and with no hesitation, she took the entire head into her mouth, savoring the taste and throbbing heat that practically pulsed in her mouth. Sasuke groaned and gripped the tatami mats under him, breaking them from their positions in the floor as if they were made of paper. She knew Sasuke was miles from his right mind, and only his carnal desires remained inside his fevered brain. He would have never let her done this otherwise. He soon could take her slow pace no longer, dragging her up to him and penetrating her in one fell swoop. Another vicious round of pounding, ending once more in a simultaneous release for both of them, ensued. Then another when they had given themselves a moment of composure. Eventually, Sakura began to see Sasuke come down from his high, the sanity in his eyes returning, the purpose in his movements coming with it. There was also the satisfaction she could see in his eyes. It was alight and warm like a campfire, glimmering just inside his pupils.

"Sakura," he whispered finally, pulling her into a long hug. By now the sun was rising in the sky. They were both still in the main room, surrounded by the ripped sheets, leftovers of their clothes which had somehow been gathered with them, and their own bodies.

She sighed contentedly in his arms, feeling so good for the first time in a long time. "Hmm?"

"You planned this, didn't you?"

She cracked an eye at him. "Planned?"

"You wanted me to come home, see you in my clothes, sleeping in our bed, and seduce me, right? You're very clever, Sakura."

"To tell you the truth, I had something else planned," she admitted honestly.

"Oh?"

"I was going to give you a show."

No response, but she could feel him tighten slightly.

She leaned in closer and whispered in his ear, "I was going to give you a show that not even you could resist."

"Maybe you can give it to me some other time," he said back, the flickering of lust crossing his eyes. "But as for now, I'll give you the credit for tonight. You were a great seductress."

She laughed and cuddled in his arms, tracing a finger across the slight marks of his stubble. "Well, I'm an Uchiha. We're all amazing."

He smiled at her, a breathtaking, sincere smile. "Yes, we are."

**End. **

**So, this was the first in what will hopefully be many of the one-shots following Origins of the New Uchiha. If anyone has any requests as to what they would like to read about, do tell because I work better with prompts. Thank you for reading, once more. **


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